On Monday, February 16, 2009 at 7:26 PM, 10 Companies of Los Angeles Firefighters, 2 LAFD Rescue Ambulances, 1 Arson Unit, 1 Urban Search and Rescue Unit, 2 EMS Battalion Captains, 2 Battalion Chief Officer Command Teams, 1 Division Chief Officer Command Team, under the direction of Assistant Chief Robert Franco, responded to a Structure Fire at 1598 W. Beverly Bl. in the Civic Center area.

Firefighters arrived on scene to find a one story, L-shaped, 50 foot by 70 foot, commercial building with fire showing from the rear of the structure. Companies were quickly deployed to establish hose lines and vertical ventilation. The roof top ventilation team indicated that 4 to 5 ventilators were "blowing fire." Additional companies were called to assist in the fire fight.

The aggressive work, enabled 67 Firefighters to knock down the fire in 17 minutes. The fire was contained to the contents of 1 room in the rear of the occupancy. The business, Laser, Inc., was responsible for legal copying and processing. The cause of the fire was deemed electrical and the dollar loss was estimated at $200,000 [$100,000 structure, $100,000 contents]. There were no reported injuries to civilians or Firefighters. The address was corrected to 1517 W. Beverly Boulevard.

Submitted by d'Lisa Davies
Los Angeles Fire Department