HOLLYWOOD - A blaze broke out Wednesday morning which consumed a vacant theater that was tucked between several other buildings on three sides. Thankfully, firefighters protected all surrounding structures without injury, and have two persons of interest being questioned.

The Los Angeles Fire Department responded to the 1400 block of North Las Palmas Avenue at 8:57 AM on Wednesday, July 13, 2022 to find a vacant two-story theater with smoke showing. Firefighters ascended ladders to the roof, and made ground-level entry to the interior of the 9,082 square-foot theater built in 1905. Shortly after, flames erupted through the roof. The Incident Commander announced a change to defensive tactics on the radio and all crews withdrew from the building.

Firefighters spent the majority of the incident in defensive operations, as heavy fire compromised the structure, making it extremely hazardous to enter. Firefighters deployed hose lines, heavy streams, and ladder pipes from the exterior of the building, and on adjacent rooftops. Despite the heavy fire load and partial structural collapse of the vacant structure, firefighters were able to successfully protect all neighboring structures (on all three sides with neighbors), including several stand-alone units of the Hollywood Center Motel, the Hollywood Guest Inn, and a multi-family residential building.

Firefighters extinguished the flames in just under two hours. This address will be red tagged by the Department of Building and Safety due to the significant structural damage. Fire investigators from LAFD's Arson/Counter Terrorism Section arrived on scene for investigation and, in coordination with LAPD, have detained one man and one woman for questioning. Thankfully, there were no injuries caused by this fire. The fire-cause investigation remains active.

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