Update: LAFD says condo fire accidental

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Update from the Los Angeles Fire Department blog: ‘Fire was ‘accidental,’ sparked by welders torch. Loss being tabulated.’

From the the L.A. Times on the fire on the construction site at the Warner Center: ‘It took about 200 firefighters just over an hour to extinguish a fire at a five-story condominium complex under construction at Warner Center in Woodland Hills, fire officials said.’

More: ‘The structure, which is about a block long, was failing in some places because of the fire, LAFD spokesman Brian Humphrey said.’

For the record, commenter Michael Snyder had this story nailed before noon, when he wrote, ‘From the picture and the area the fire allegedly started my money’s on either a roofer’s torch or an overheated tar kettle. Roofers use that infamous stinking kettle to soften the tar used to seal flat roofs and that material will flash into flame. The torch us used to melt hardening tar so it will flow & seal the roof.’ Thanks, Michael.

Your thoughts? Comments? E-mail story tips to peter.viles@latimes.com.
Photo Credit: KTLA