LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Bright orange flames and thick black smoke rose into the sky this morning as a fire ripped through a one-story commercial building in the Central-Alameda area of South Los Angeles and burned for nearly two hours before being extinguished.
Crews responded at 3:39 a.m. to 2700 block of S. Long Beach Ave., south of 24th Street, and found heavy fire coming from the building, according to Nicholas Prange of the Los Angeles Fire Department.
The fire was upgraded at 4:30 a.m. from a greater alarm structure fire to a major emergency structure fire, and the 144 firefighters assigned waged a defensive battle against the flames using ladder pipes and large hose lines set up along the perimeter of the building while leaving room for a potential building collapse, Prange said.
A knock down of the bulk of the fire inside the 21,711-square-foot building was called at 5:27 a.m. and crews would remain on scene to extinguish hot spots. LAFD heavy equipment crews were called in to safely move debris to allow firefighters to snuff out any remaining flames, Prange said.
LAFD Arson/Counter Terrorism investigators were on scene working to determine a cause.
Metro A (Blue) Line service between the Vernon and Washington stations was halted because of the fire but resumed about 6 a.m.
No injuries were reported.
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