5 Injured in Explosion at Westwood High-Rise

An explosion on the 23rd floor of a Westwood high-rise Thursday burned five workmen, some critically, after a halogen lamp ignited lacquer fumes from workmen’s sprayers, authorities said.

The blast at 3:25 p.m. shook the condominium building at 10580 Wilshire Blvd., sent a plate glass window flying onto a car below and triggered a flash fire that burned men working in a penthouse undergoing renovation.

Two men, ages 31 and 36, were critically burned over 50% to 60% of their bodies and were transferred to Grossman Burn Center at the Sherman Oaks Hospital and Health Center, Los Angeles City Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey said. A third worker suffered serious burns, and two others received minor injuries.

About 70 firefighters arrived to find glass strewn outside. They halted all elevators and climbed 23 flights of stairs.

Witnesses doing a variety of jobs on the 23rd floor of the Wilshire Condominiums said some workers had been spraying lacquer in an elevator vestibule that had been curtained off with clear plastic drapes, Humphrey said.

“Someone, either entering or leaving the area, had pulled back the curtain, allowing the volatile vapors to come into contact with a halogen work lamp,” he said. “There was a flash fire, and then an explosion powerful enough to blow out a large window and shake the entire building.”

The “force of the blast and ensuing fire activated the fire sprinklers, which held the fire in check,” he said. Three floors were evacuated.

Building residents include actors Rodney Dangerfield and Charlie Sheen, condominium officials said.

The incident was under control in 15 minutes, Humphrey said. But a portion of Wilshire Boulevard was closed for about two hours while firefighters mopped up.

Cabinet maker Justin Sarris, 25, said he was downstairs “when I heard a low thud, walked outside and looked up to see a large pane of glass falling from the 23rd floor. It hit a car.”

A general contractor who had been on the 23rd floor “told me that one guy was on fire and he tried to put out the flames,” he said. “Another guy told me he was in a hallway when he heard the explosion, then saw a wall of flame coming after him. One of our guys was blown off some scaffolding. But he wasn’t hurt.”

Sarris’ 60-year-old father, John Sarris, who was among the injured, was treated at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, he said.

“My dad was in the room when the explosion occurred,” he said. “He was hit in the arm by something.”

The fire caused about $130,000 in damage.

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Times staff writer Gina Piccalo contributed to this story.