SOUTH LOS ANGELES - More than a hundred Los Angeles Firefighters fought a late night blaze near Exposition Park for nearly an hour Friday evening, battling intense flames that raced through a discount furnishing and electronics firm and threatened to consume buildings nearby.

The December 2, 2011 fire at 3935 South Vermont Avenue, was reported at 10:04 PM and quickly escalated to a Greater Alarm, as 121 Los Angeles Fire Department personnel under the command of Battalion Chief Stephen Gutierrez, forced entry and pulled multiple hoselines to do battle within the 75' x 150' retail establishment.

Teams of firefighters worked swiftly with chainsaws on the arch truss roof, performing vertical ventilation of heat and smoke, as colleagues beneath them stoically held the fire to the westernmost half of the non-fire sprinklered structure, extinguishing the flames in just 59 minutes.

No injuries were reported.

Loss to the yet identified business is still being tabulated. The well-coordinated effort of Los Angeles Firefighters is credited with sparing a one-story automotive repair business to the north, and a two story building of apartments over retail to the south.

The cause of the fire remains under active investigation.

Dispatched Units: E46 RA46 RA846 E215 E15 T15 E34 E66 T66 E266 SQ21 EM2 BC11 BC13 E9 RA34 DC2 E13 E14 E26 T26 E226 E210 T10 RA10 E233 T33 EM9 EM6 BC18 BC5 BC4 T3 E203 E3 UR88 BC1 RA3 RA803 UR3 AR1 RT59 RA868 E95 T61 E261

(video) (photos)

Submitted by Brian Humphrey, Spokesman
Los Angeles Fire Department