Firefighters Save Building from Solar Panel Blaze in Boyle Heights
When solar panels covering a nearly half a million square foot roof started to burn, firefighters quickly deployed hand lines to the top of the massive structure and saved the building.
At 9:10AM on August 14, 2024 the Los Angeles City Fire Department responded to the 1400 block of S Los Palos Street in Boyle Heights for a reported structure fire. While enroute, fire companies could see heavy smoke billowing up from the roof of the 479,152 square foot structure built in 2018.
The first officer arriving on scene requested additional resources and initiated an offensive fire attack. Due to the size of the building and the split level roof, ladder pipes off the aerial ladder trucks would not be effective. Firefighters used the ladder trucks to ascend to the first roof level and carried extension ladders with them to put in place and reach the upper roof level. They deployed hand lines across the breadth of the roof and hit the heart of the fire.
Over 80 LAFD firefighters, with additional resources from Los Angeles County Fire Department, working under the command of Assistant Chief Douglas Lewis, extinguished the fire in just 48 minutes with no injuries reported.
Without the aggressive and timely actions of the crews on scene, the fire could have continued to jump from solar array to solar array and potentially extend to the interior of the building, with devastating results for the business.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
