Fire Guts Boarded-Up Apartment Building
- Share via
Fire swept through a large, boarded-up apartment building just southwest of MacArthur Park late Friday, sending flames high into the air and briefly threatening several adjacent buildings.
Search-and-rescue teams dashed into the still-flaming two-story Victorian building to search for possible victims, but officials said the building appeared to have been abandoned.
More than 60 firefighters were on the scene within three minutes after the blaze was reported at 8:38 p.m., said Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey. The fire was brought under control within 20 minutes, and no injuries were reported, Humphrey said.
Neighboring buildings at Olympic Boulevard and Arapahoe Street, a heavily populated immigrant neighborhood, were not affected, Humphrey said.
“The home was boarded up, but you never know if someone lived there or was squatting,” Humphrey said. He said the search would continue through portions of the building where ceiling beams had collapsed.
The building predated fire codes, and flames moved swiftly through the empty spaces inside the walls, Humphrey said.
The Los Angeles Fire Department has sent 55 engines to join the fight against wildfires from San Diego to Ventura County.
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
More From the Los Angeles Times
Podcasts
John Orr was a renowned fire investigator who was also a prolific arsonist, and whose thinly veiled novel helped to convict him. In this episode we hear from the fire captain who first suspected him—and from Orr himself.
Madison McGhee is joined by legendary Dateline host Josh Mankiewicz and esteemed L.A. Times Reporter Richard Winton as the three of them dive into all-things Menendez Brothers, the good, the bad, and the still unknown.
NPR climate editor Sadie Babits talks about why the media has long overlooked the climate crisis, and how that’s starting to change.
