Workers Spark Pair of High Rise Fires in Los Angeles

Firefighters in Downtown Los Angeles quickly tamed a pair of structure fires that erupted Friday in two separate high-rise buildings undergoing renovation.

On Friday, August 3, 2007 at 10:23 AM, 14 Companies of Los Angeles Firefighters, 3 LAFD Rescue Ambulances, 1 Arson Unit, 1 Hazardous Materials Squad, 4 Helicopters, 1 EMS Battalion Captain, 3 Battalion Chief Officer Command Teams and 1 Division Chief Officer Command Team, a total of 100 Los Angeles Fire Department personnel, under the direction of Assistant Chief Roderick Garcia, responded to a High Rise Structure Fire at 600 South Spring Street in historic downtown Los Angeles.

Firefighters arrived quickly to discover smoke showing from the 17th floor of a high-rise office building undergoing a major renovation.

Making their way up a stairway through the largely demolished interior of the 273,765 square-foot building while carrying hundreds of pounds of equipment, teams of Firefighters soon confined a stubborn blaze to debris that included insulation, on southeast corner of the 17th floor.

The fire was fully extinguished in less than 40 minutes, and there were no injuries.

Loss from the fire is still being tabulated. The blaze is attributed to the careless use of a welder's torch.

...and little more than an hour after fully extinguishing that blaze, many of the same Firefighters responded...

On Friday, August 3, 2007 at 12:35 PM, 10 Companies of Los Angeles Firefighters, 4 LAFD Rescue Ambulances, 2 Arson Units, 1 Hazardous Materials Squad, 4 Helicopters, 1 EMS Battalion Captain, 3 Battalion Chief Officer Command Teams and 1 Division Chief Officer Command Team, a total of 81 Los Angeles Fire Department personnel under the direction of Battalion Chief Dan McCarty responded to a High Rise Structure Fire at 756 South Broadway Street in the Jewelry District of downtown Los Angeles.

Firefighters arrived quickly to find smoke showing from the northeast corner of the 8th floor at the Chapman Flats, a 170,000 square-foot high-rise office building undergoing a residential transformation.

According to witnesses, the fuel line of a pressure washer being used on the 8th floor suddenly ruptured, causing an intense fire that brought dozens of Firefighters up stairwells of the 95 year-old building carrying heavy equipment to do battle against the flames.

The fire was skilfully confined to the region of origin, and extinguished in just 12 minutes.

An adult male worker, who unsuccessfully attempted to fight the fire, sustained moderate smoke inhalation. He was subsequently evaluated by Los Angeles Fire Department Paramedics before transport to Good Samaritan Hospital in fair condition.

No other injuries were reported.

Monetary loss from the blaze is still being tabulated. LAFD Investigators affirmed witnesses account of the fire, and categorized it as accidental.

It should be noted that in at least one of the aforementioned incidents, workers had no fire extinguishers at hand.

(photo of fire damage at Chapman Flats)


Submitted by Brian Humphrey, Spokesman
Los Angeles Fire Department