Firefighters put out a blaze that burned for more than two hours as it engulfed a one-story building in downtown Los Angeles Friday night.
Crews responded to the structure on the at 917 S. San Julian St. shortly after 8 p.m., as heavy smoke was pouring from the roof, according to an alert from the L.A. Fire Department.
The incident was initially reported as a rubbish fire, but it was upgraded to a structure fire while crews were en route, LAFD Assistant Chief Dean Zipperman.
“It appears that there was a large amount of rubbish in the rear of the occupancy,” Zipperman said. “It ended up extending inside of the occupancy.”
Sky5 arrived above the scene at about 8:30 p.m., as large columns of smoke were pouring from the roof and front entrance. A short time later, heavy flames started emerging from the roof.
Zipperman said the building holds a lot of fabric — “a large fire load” that was quick to burn heavily.
Just shy of 100 firefighters were assigned to the blaze.
While crews were initially sent inside the building attack the flames, they were pulled out within half an hour as conditions deteriorated. But after an hour and a half, enough progress had been made to for firefighters to return inside and seek out the remaining pockets of fire, officials said.
No civilian injuries were reported, but one firefighter was transported for a heat-related injury.
The building involved was a concrete, tilt-up construction measuring about 100 feet by 200 feet.
The structure displayed the logo of Calla Collection USA, which has a listed location of 917 S. San Julian St.
Firefighters expected to remain on scene throughout the night.
