Four people sustained minor injury, when an explosion rocked the basement of a high rise building in downtown Los Angeles Thursday night. 

The thunderous explosion, reported at 10:10 PM on August 20, 2015, brought scores of Los Angeles Fire Department personnel to 811 West Wilshire Boulevard in the Financial District of downtown Los Angeles.

Firefighters arrived quickly to find evidence of an explosion, smoke and fire on the first subterranean level of a twenty-two story commmercial and office building, discovering four adults with non-life threatening injury. Though two persons declined care, a woman with a headache and man with back pain were later taken by LAFD ambulance in good condition to area hospitals for further evaluation. 

One hundred-sixty one firefighters under the command of Assistant Chief Donald Frazeur quickly confined the fire and controlled smoke to discover blast damage, a large volume of water from damaged pipes and possible electrical issues in the basement.

Though there was widespread damage, initial fears for the building's structural integrity proved unfounded. The building was however "red-tagged" as being temporarily unfit for occupancy by the Department of Building & Safety, until electric service and fire safety systems could be restored. 

The restoration of local electric service was to be handled by the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power, while dewatering of the basement was to take place jointly with the building's owner. Monetary loss from the explosion and fire is still being tabulated.

Research into the cause of the basement blast and fire was focused initially on damaged machinery that appeared to be a large power generator. Further evaluation and consultation with utility officials has clarified the damaged equipment as being an on-site industrial power station. The specific cause of the incident remains under active investigation. 

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