Cat Rescued, Dog Perishes and 4 Made Homeless by North Hollywood Fire
Though their cat was rescued by Los Angeles Firefighters, a family mourned the loss of their pet dog Friday evening, after it persished in flames that engulfed their east San Fernando Valley residence, leaving them homeless.
The Los Angeles Fire Department was notified at 6:09 PM on January 15, 2016 by the 9-1-1 call of a passerby, to respond to 11342 Martha Street in North Hollywood, where firefighters arrived quickly to find smoke showing from a one story home.
Thirty-seven firefighters under the command of Battalion Chief Ellis Fortman, made a well-coordinated attack on the conflagration, safely rescuing a pet cat from the heat and smoke charged 1,141 square-foot residence. Their simultaneous effort to rescue a pet dog from the inferno however, proved fruitless, with the canine succumbing to the flames.
The bulk of fire was confined to one bedroom and the attic, and extinguished in just twenty minutes. No LAFD responders were injured.
The family of four related adults had been away when fire erupted in their 95 year-old residence, that was not equipped with functional smoke alarms.
Disaster Action Team volunteers from the American Red Cross assisted the four made homeless by the fire, while Chief Fortman provided the family with immediate monetary aid via the California Fire Foundation's SAVE Program.
Fire loss is estimated at $175,000 ($125,000 structure & $50,000 contents). The cause of the blaze was determined to be electrical in nature.
Dispatched Units: E60 E86 E102 E278 T78 RA878 RA78 E239 T39 EM14 BC14 T60 E260
