On Tuesday, January 15, 2008 at 2:21 PM, 23 Companies of Los Angeles Firefighters, 6 LAFD Rescue Ambulances, 2 Arson Units, 2 Urban Search and Rescue Units, 1 Hazardous Materials Team, 2 EMS Battalion Captains, 7 Battalion Chief Officer Command Teams, 1 Division Chief Officer Command Team, Emergency Air 1 & 2, Rehab Tender 40, 2 CERT Team Coordinators, Street Maintenance, DOT and DWP, all under the direction of Deputy Chief Mario Rueda, responded to a Report of Smoke at 5449 W. 6th St. in the Miracle Mile District.

Multiple calls flooded into the OCD Dispatch Center confirming an active fire. Units arriving first on the scene found a two story, "U" shaped apartment building with smoke and fire showing from the attic vents. An urgent request for additional resources was made. Many of the occupants responded and reacted to smoke alarm activations and self evacuated the building. Companies assigned to fire attack while deploying their hoselines, found the attic fully engulfed in flames and exposing the adjacent two story apartment buildings on the "B" and "D" sides of the fire occupancy. Ventilation crews were ordered to perform a "strip or trench" ventilation operation to prevent the spread of fire to the uninvolved portions of the building. There was a 30 to 40 percent loss to the roof of the structure. Companies assigned exposure protection precluded any damage to those occupancies.

It took 159 Firefighters and specialty companies to extinguish the afternoon blaze. The cause was determined to be workers sweating pipe in the attic space. The preliminary dollar loss is estimated at over $1 million to the structure and the contents is undetermined at this time. There were no reports of injury to civilians or Firefighters, which could greatly be attributed to functional smoke alarms and early self evacuation. The Red Cross is on the scene assisting the 15 individuals displaced with their housing needs. La Brea Avenue and Detroit Street were closed in both directions between 6th Street and Wilshire Boulevard. They will remain closed until further notice.

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Submitted by d'Lisa Davies
Los Angeles Fire Department