Blaze Injures 4 Firefighters

Four firefighters suffered minor burns while battling a blaze that caused $450,000 in damage to a Westwood Village apartment complex Thursday.

There were no reported injuries to occupants of the 113-unit building, Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Jim Williamson said. Investigators were trying to determine the cause of the fire that destroyed two apartment units at the California Club Apartments, 10982 Roebling Ave., near UCLA.

Louisa Caucia , who lives on the fifth floor, said the occupant of the fourth floor unit where the fire started told her that a towel caught fire when it touched a hot stove. The occupant used a blanket to snuff out the fire, she said, but the blanket also caught fire and flames quickly spread through the ceiling of the unit to the apartment above.

Two firefighters were taken to the UCLA Medical Center emergency room with minor neck burns, and two others were treated at the scene for leg burns, Williamson said. Seventeen fire companies from as far away as downtown Los Angeles responded to the blaze, and it took firefighters 40 minutes to extinguish it, he said.