4 Injured as 4 Fires Strike Area Buildings

Fires cropped up across the Los Angeles area Friday morning, injuring four people--two critically--and causing more than $3 million in damage at a home and three businesses.

Unlike the annual fall fires that plague the region, these were neither wild nor fueled by hot Santa Ana winds. Instead, fire officials said, they were the result of other causes, just a day after five children died in a Watts blaze that tore through their converted-garage home.

A 6:50 a.m. fire at a one-story, single-family home in Eagle Rock sent four adults to hospitals. Firefighters rescued an elderly man and a 70-year-old woman from the structure, and both were taken to Glendale Adventist Medical Center in critical condition, authorities said. Another man and woman in the house suffered minor smoke inhalation during the fire in the 4100 block of West Avenue 41.

Authorities did not identify the injured people but said the fire was believed to have started at an electrical outlet in the home. Damage to the structure and its contents was estimated at $75,000.

In one of two Friday fires at furniture manufacturing centers, the Expo Furniture Factory and Showroom in South-Central Los Angeles was ravaged by a blaze that caused $2.95 million in damage, authorities said. There were no injuries.

About 140 firefighters battled for more than an hour to put out the blaze, which broke out shortly before 3 a.m. in the 5800 block of South Hooper Avenue, authorities said. The cause is still under investigation.

A metal furniture factory in Cudahy reported flames at 11:19 a.m. Twelve workers were able to escape the fast-moving fire at Galaxy Furniture, but the 100-by-100-foot building was considered a total loss, said county firefighter Caesar Alvarez, with more than $550,000 in damage to the building and its contents. One person suffered minor smoke inhalation.

And just before 6 a.m., more than 50 city firefighters were called to a fire at the La Salle Hotel at 255 W. 7th St. in San Pedro. All the guests were able to get out of the three-story building, although one man suffered second-degree burns on his feet, authorities said.

The hotel’s sprinkler system confined the blaze to the room where the fire ignited, Wells said, adding that carelessness with a cigarette is believed to have caused the blaze. Losses were estimated at $2,500.