A FIRE IN A 3-STORY APARTMENT BUILDING in downtown Los Angeles, California, left 13 people injured including a 2-yr.-old child with 3rd-degree burns. Another victim was a woman who suffered a broken leg when she leaped from an upper-story window fleeing the flames.
LAFD photo by Harry Garvin
The heavy initial response by the FD brought 150 firefighters to the scene, the first units arriving in 3 minutes where they found fire showing from a 2nd-floor unit. They immediately laddered the entire building and effected rescue activities while extinguishing the flames. The fire was put out in less than 30 minutes. The two injured victims remain in critical condition, but both are expected to survive.
The fire began Saturday morning around 8:45 in one of the building’s 42 living units and quickly filled the area with smoke causing a mild panic. Los Angeles Fire Department Capt. Steve Ruda told the Los Angeles Times that the blaze broke out on the second floor and residents used some creative efforts to escape. One person tied together a karate belt, a blanket and a power cord and tied the assemblage to a room fixture, Ruda said. He didn’t know whether anyone used the makeshift rope.
LAFD photo by Harry Garvin
The LAFD News website has the best article on the fire HERE.
CBS News has assembled these raw video clips:
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- The 1913 Brennan Hotel fire – LAFD – January 24, 2013
- LAFD Response Times Dip After Station Shutdowns …. (No! Really?) – May 19, 2012
