Hollywood and Vine Fire Causes Major Damage
On Wednesday, April 30, 2008 at 5:31 AM, 23 Companies of Los Angeles Firefighters, 6 LAFD Rescue Ambulances, 2 Arson Units, 2 Urban Search and Rescue Units, 1 Rehab Unit, 2 CERT Coordinators, 1 Hazardous Materials Team, 4 EMS Battalion Captains, 7 Battalion Chief Officer Command Teams, 1 Division Chief Officer Command Teams, Emergency Air 1, Building and Safety, Structural Engineers, Street Maintenance, DWP, DOT and LAPD, all under the direction of Deputy Chief Mario Rueda, responded to the Major Emergency Structure Fire at 6263 W. Hollywood Bl. in the Hollywood area.
The initial call into the OCD Dispatch Center indicated a large commercial building was on fire at the corner of Hollywood and Vine. The first responding Firefighters on scene found a one story, multi occupancy commercial building with heavy smoke and fire showing from the one end of the building, known as the Basque restaurant and night club. Additional companies were requested immediately because of the size of the occupancy.
As fire companies arrived on scene, a monumental interior attack was initialed on the fire. Firefighters fought the intense blaze for approximately twenty minutes experiencing restrictive compartmentalization to the interior of the occupancy as well as other obstacles, which hindered efforts to get to the seat of the fire. The Incident Commander ordered companies to withdraw from the interior and go to a defensive attack to regain control of the fire.
The roof ventilation team fought through heavy smoke to start a trenching operation to assist Firefighters on hose lines. Other roof top obstacles were 2 large air conditioning units and a billboard that posed early concerns to the IC regarding the safety of interior firefighting teams.
At 0720 hours, the bulk of the fire had been knocked down and the decision was made to re-engage an interior attack with handlines. Shortly afterwards, the billboard flexed and shifted initiating an Emergency Traffic warning to be issued for all Firefighters to evacuate the building to a safe location. With all members accounted for, handlines were but back in operation by Firefighters from a safe distance and successfully extinguished the fire.
It took a total of 180 Firefighters 2 hours and 27 minutes to completely knockdown the fire. The cause and estimated dollar loss are undetermined until the completion of the fire investigation. Of the four occupancies in the building, the Basque restaurant / night club and the Blood Shot tattoo parlor experienced severe damage. Sandee's shoe repair and the San Miguel Spa and Salon experienced moderate damage. Building and Safety Inspectors and Structural Engineers will assess the structural integrity of the building. There were no reports of injury to civilians or Firefighters.
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Submitted by d'Lisa Davies
Los Angeles Fire Department
10 comments:
I was able to watch the breaking news footage of this structure fire on Fox 11 this morning. The Los Angeles firefighters worked very hard suppressing the flames at this night club.
I know that the billboard posed a damager to the firefighters; however, it seemed that the local media made a bigger deal out of the issue than what was necessary.
Keep up the good work LAFD.
Ashley Rogers
LAFD Buff
Mr. Humphrey, while it may seem funny to you, I think your headline is inappropriate for this fire.
I would agree, the headline is pretty insensitive. A play on words of "Basque" versus "Bask"
To "Bask" is (according to Yahoo dictionary):
1. To expose oneself to pleasant warmth.
2. To take great pleasure or satisfaction: "an opportunity to bask in the genteel applause of the faithful" (Paul A. Witteman).
I hardly think that the City, Firefighters and especially the owners took "pleasure" in this loss.
Proof reading wouldn't hurt either.
Firefighter Davies, not Humphrey, wrote this press release.
I, too, do not agree with the headline. However, the past several days have been very busy not only for the station firefighters, but for the Public Information Officers. Sometimes mistakes happen while writing headlines for articles.
The city of LA has experienced three serious fires over the several days. The media relation officers have been very busy. They try very hard to convey the facts on each incident that they write about.
I appreciate d'Lisa, Ron and Brian for taking the time out of their regular duties to provide us citizens and fire buffs with press releases, pictures, various other fire related information and videos.
Respectfully,
Ashley Rogers
LAFD Fire Buff
Camarillo
Cool Down!
It was a play on words.
I thought the headline was VERY CUTE! (Heck, it is Hollywood) The information was very informative! Another great job by the LAFD.
-Just Another Buff
I'm sure if there had been civilian or firefighter injuries, the headline would have been different.
Don't take this too seriously.
I'm the Editor of the North Carolina Fire Service news site (www.firenews.net). I too caught some flak recently with a headline I created for a run-down strip club that burned here locally.
Something along the lines of "Strip Club Burns, All Poles Melted" or something similar.
About 50% thought it funny; another 50% said they were done visiting the site. I doubt the latter.
Anyway, again, excellent service for all the fire service. LAFD continues to set the standard!
Jeff Harkey
FireNews.net
Raleigh, NC
I love LAFD but the headline is innappropriate. Someone really needs to proofread these things and think about what they are saying. Is there any reason to be cute or funny? Businesses were lost and others were badly damaged. A whole bunch of people are now unemployed. No other blogger or media tried to be so cute or funny, and I really think the headline could have been more professional.
another outstanding effort by a first class team. kudos to the great professionals of lafd.
Hey, go easy. If blogs are anything like a newspaper, the stupid headlines are written by someone who was never at the fire. The LAFD did a great job, and that is all that matters.
Dear Friends,
One of the greatest benefits of this blog is the ability for us to gain insight by listening to your observations and concerns.
While clearly not intentional, Firefighter Davies initial headline might be misconstrued. As such, and at the behest of our Unit Commander, the headline has been changed to make it more applicable to the incident.
Respectfully Yours in Safety and Service,
Brian Humphrey
Firefighter/Specialist
Public Service Officer
Los Angeles Fire Department
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