Firefighter injured in blaze at downtown L.A. office supplies store
Firefighters battled a fire Sunday that erupted in the early morning and remained active well into the afternoon at a downtown L.A. office supplies store.
Roughly 120 firefighters were called about 4 a.m. to the two-story building with a mezzanine at 1225 S. Hope St. near West Pico Boulevard. Upon arrival, firefighters encountered heavy smoke and flames. One firefighter suffered minor injuries in the battle and was hospitalized.
Firefighters transitioned from offensive to defensive mode and used a remote-suppression robot to enter the building, LAFD spokesperson Jennifer Middleton said. Arson and emergency air units also were requested.
1. Firefighters battled a fire Sunday that erupted in the early morning and remained active well into the afternoon at a downtown L.A. office supplies store. (Kayla Bartkowski/Los Angeles Times)
The blaze was initially contained by 5:52 a.m., but the building’s contents rekindled, said LAFD Battalion Chief Peter Hsiao.
About 10 a.m., firefighters were “trying to remove paper from the building to stop it from catching on fire,” Hsiao said.
By 10:30 a.m., the building’s roof had collapsed, according to Times photographer Kayla Bartkowski, who was at the scene. Thirty minutes later, the building was again engulfed in flames.
At 1:30 p.m., firefighters were trying to contain the blaze by using a forklift and heavy machinery to pull boxes of office supplies and pallets of paper out of the building, then spraying it all down with water.
Firefighters on the roof also were spraying the fire to prevent it from spreading, she added.
A blaze was reported at about 4 a.m. in downtown L.A. at 1225 South Hope St.
(Kayla Bartkowski / Los Angeles Times)
The address is associated with Bluebird Office Supplies. A voicemail left for a number listed for the business owner was not immediately returned.
No one was inside the building at the time of the blaze, Middleton said.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.