NORTH HOLLYWOOD - A woman sustained minor injury after a stove fire she thought controlled, raced through her densely packed suburban San Fernando Valley home Wednesday morning.

Alerted by multiple 9-1-1 calls from passing motorists at 7:44 AM on January 11, 2012, Los Angeles Firefighters arrived quickly at 12425 Burton Street in North Hollywood, where they found a one-story 1,189 square-foot home surrounded by dense vegetation to be well involved with fire.

On arrival, firefighters were met by the 84 year-old homeowner, who stated she had been cooking when debris in the kitchen was ignited from the stovetop. After believing she had fully extinguished the burning item, the woman exited the front door of her home for an unspecified purpose and time period.

As the woman returned to her residence, she was confronted near the front door by immense heat that singed her hair and caused her to sustain first degree facial burns. She immediately retreated from the home.

Teams of firefighters worked in unison within the house and on the roof above in battling fire that roared through the building, fueled by "pack rat" storage of combustible belongings throughout the 59 year-old non-fire sprinklered residence. It took 41 Los Angeles Fire Department personnel just twenty-one minutes to extinguish the blaze.

LAFD Firefighter/Paramedics treated and comforted the woman at the scene before transporting her in fair condition by ambulance to Kaiser Panorama City Medical Center.

No other injuries were reported.

Monetary loss from the fire is still being tabulated. The cause of the early morning blaze is categorized as accidental, and attributed to combustible debris - likely a newspaper - ignited by the stove and incompletely extinguished by the woman.

Dispatched Units: E289 E89 T89 RA889 RA89 E7 E77 E298 T98 EM14 BC12 BC14 E60 RA7 AR2

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Submitted by Brian Humphrey, Spokesman
Los Angeles Fire Department