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Central L.A. Fires Kill 3-Year-Old Boy, Leave 20 Injured

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Times Staff Writer

Separate fires that raged through a Central Los Angeles home and apartment house before dawn Monday killed a small child and left 20 people injured, three critically, city fire officials reported.

The child, 3-year-old David Thomas Jr., was inside a single-family home at 9116 S. Figueroa St. when a blaze erupted shortly before 5 a.m., coroner’s spokesman Bill Gold said.

Nine other people managed to escape the flames. Two were taken in critical condition to Martin Luther King Jr. Hospital, four were hospitalized in serious condition at Daniel Freeman Hospital and two with minor injuries were treated at Centinela Hospital. The extent of injuries to the ninth person, treated at St. Francis Hospital, were not known, Acevedo said.

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The names of the injured were not released, and it was unclear whether they were members of the same family. Acevedo said that exits to the house were covered with security bars that were not equipped with quick-release latches.

But, he said, “it’s uncertain whether that led to the death of the child or the more serious injuries.” The house also had no smoke detectors, firefighters said.

The apartment blaze broke out shortly after midnight in a four-story commercial and residential building at 1821 S. Main St., several miles north of the house fire.

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Although the flames were confined to one hallway, smoke billowed into several apartments, prompting some residents to leap from the second floor to the street, Acevedo said. A 64-year-old man was critically injured and 10 other residents sustained lesser wounds, including back and leg injuries, when they jumped to the ground.

Five of the injured were adults, four were children and two were babies, fire officials said.

The house fire resulted in $45,000 damage and the apartment blaze did $17,000 in damage, Acevedo said. The causes of the fires were under investigation.

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