Officials say welder’s torch caused Woodland Hills fire

A fire that raged through a five-story condominium complex under construction at Warner Center in Woodland Hills on Monday was accidentally sparked when a piece of molten metal fell from a welder’s torch and ignited tar paper, authorities said.

The blaze, on the 21300 block of Erwin Street at the 191-unit Ascent at the Warner Center complex, was battled by more than 200 firefighters, said Brian Humphrey, spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Department.

The fire was reported about 8:40 a.m. by several passersby who saw black smoke billowing over the Los Angeles Basin during the morning commute, officials said.

“It was a dramatic fire,” Humphrey said. Officials initially thought that it would take several hours to control the blaze, but it took less than 90 minutes to extinguish the flames, he said.

The fire caused a traffic headache in the area after several streets were closed for firefighters, officials said. The thousands of students who attend nearby Pierce College are on spring break, said spokeswoman Doreen Clay, who watched as a plume of smoke spread over the San Fernando Valley as she drove to work Monday morning.

The blaze was ignited when a small piece of molten metal fell from a third-floor balcony where a construction worker was using a welder’s torch. The hot metal fell onto a piece of tar paper on the second floor, Humphrey said. By the time workers grabbed fire extinguishers and ran to the second floor, the fire had grown out of control, he said.

Workers evacuated the building and no injuries were reported, officials said.

The blaze raged in the structure’s central portion, causing the roof and the walls in that area to collapse. The units will have to be completely rebuilt, officials said. But the vast majority of the project, which covers an entire block, was spared from the fire and smoke.

The Ascent project, which started construction in the fall, includes town homes and condominiums that haven’t been put up for sale yet, said Lindsay Stephenson, spokeswoman for the project’s builder, KB Homes. The center, billed as an “urban residence,” is slated to have several upscale amenities, such as poolside cabanas, a private lounge with a gourmet kitchen, and outdoor fireplaces, according to the company’s website.

paloma.esquivel@latimes.com