13 Firefighters Hurt in Building Collapse

Like a fiery house of cards, a burning two-story building collapsed early Sunday in Downtown Los Angeles, injuring 13 city firefighters.

After five of them were instantly covered by more than four feet of fallen debris and beams, fellow firefighters scrambled to dig them out--using chain saws and a hydraulic Jaws of Life--and only one required hospitalization, fire officials said.

“We had a sudden and complete collapse of the structure,” which was vacant, said Los Angeles City Fire Department Assistant Chief Lon Pursell, who called it rare for an entire building to implode that way.

“It’s been 10 years since we lost a firefighter in the line of duty,” Pursell said, standing before the charred remains of the building, which had commercial space on the ground floor and apartments above. “But today, this morning, we almost lost 10.”

The cause of the fire was under investigation.

The hospitalized firefighter, Surgey Tomlinson, 28, was listed in serious condition with a broken leg and back and abdominal injuries. Another crew member was treated and released after suffering an electric shock.

Fire officials used the near-tragedy to urge that 57 staff assistant firefighter positions not be lost to budget cuts--personnel that Mayor Richard Riordan has said act largely as highly paid chauffeurs for battalion chiefs.

During Sunday’s fire, Pursell said, safety was maintained because staff assistants, who are trained firefighters, were there to help battalion chiefs monitor radio traffic and keep track of fire personnel and equipment. Fire officials contend that the loss of the assistants would further hamper a department that has been reduced 15% since 1978, while the city’s population has grown dramatically.

That view was echoed at the scene of the blaze in the 700 block of East 9th Street, by firefighter Paula Perry as she stood amid two large mounds of charred rubble and the acrid smell of smoke. When her engine crew arrived there about 3 a.m., Perry said, the top story of the wooden building was engulfed in flames. As she fumbled in the darkness toward the front door, she was suddenly buried alive by the collapsing structure.

“I was completely trapped,” Perry said. Two large wooden beams had to be severed before she could be pried out as embers burned around her. She said she thought about how to get out, and whether she would survive the day, which happened to be her 31st birthday. Then she felt pain in her right knee--which turned out to be ligament damage.

“I was under for what felt like three days, but it was about two minutes,” Perry said, gripping the crutches she needed as a result of her injury.

Right behind Perry during the blaze was firefighter Jerry Trowbridge. “I heard a crack,” he said, recalling how he turned to look at the building as it collapsed, domino fashion.

The 18-year veteran landed face down and a large wooden beam fell across his back. After scrambling free, he saw that Perry was buried and raced for a chain saw to cut the beams that had sealed her in the debris.

“I’ve never seen a total collapse like this,” Trowbridge said, adding, “it was shocking. In one swoop that whole building was down on the ground.”

Pursell, standing with the two firefighters on the graffiti-marred street dotted with wholesale textile and fabric companies, said some of the firefighters probably would have died had they been inside the building.

Of the 13 injured, three were treated at the scene and 10 were rushed to hospitals. Of those, all but Tomlinson were released with minor injuries.

In all, at least 80 firefighters responded to the blaze, which took 50 minutes to extinguish. The damage was estimated at $150,000.