Early Morning Fire Rips Commercial Property in El Sereno

Add Feedback

Share |

A large fire erupted at a commercial property in the early morning hours today and brought 180 Firefighters to the scene.

At 1:30 am on Friday, December 2, 2011, the Los Angeles Fire Department responded to a large "Outside Fire" at 5339 East Valley Boulevard near El Sereno. The property spanned nearly three blocks in length and hosted several businesses, all of which were in jeopardy of being exposed to the blaze.

Among those structures, was an approximate 200' x 400' commercial building with a very significant fire load. First arriving Firefighters encountered downed power lines and a large volume of fire, then immediately requested additional resources for assistance.

At the center of this property was an open yard, where several tractor-trailers, most of which were holding highly combustible materials, were parked along with other heavy equipment. Together, these vehicles provided most of the fuel for this "Major Emergency" Incident.

Firefighters did an outstanding job of preventing the blaze from spreading into any of the adjacent businesses on the property. One structure did sustain some fire damage, while the others were impacted only by the large quantities of water required to fully extinguish the blaze, which came in 1 hour and 58 minutes.

There were no injuries reported from the scene and despite the "High Wind Warnings" that were in effect at the time of the fire, the wind did not play a factor. Damage estimates were not yet available and the cause of the fire is under active investigation.

Republished with permission of the Los Angeles Fire Department. View original article here.



Author:Matt Spence - PIO - LAFD