Over 100 firefighters battled through the night, saving two buildings as fire raged in a large commercial warehouse in Historic South-Central Los Angeles.

At 1:31AM, the Los Angeles Fire Department responded to a reported structure fire in the 3000 block of S Main St in Historic South-Central Los Angeles.  The first arriving fire company found a large, approximately 100’ x 200’, commercial structure fire with smoke showing and requested additional resources. They immediately initiated an offensive fire attack with the truck company ascending to the roof for vertical ventilation and engine companies entering the building for interior fire attack.

As firefighters cut two large ventilation holes through the roof, flames burst through, lighting up the night. With a building approximately 200’ deep, knowing where the seat of the fire is within the structure is critical for the firefighters inside. Communicating this information to interior fire attack, the officers closely coordinated their advance towards the portion of the building, under limited to zero visibility, where the fire was believed to be located.

Thirty minutes into the battle, fire attack was approximately 100’ feet into the building and suspected a mezzanine with fire above their position. With deep seated, heavy fire growing in intensity the Incident Commander, Assistant Chief Kristina Kepner, made the transition to a defensive operation.

Truck companies deployed their ladder pipes and firefighters used 2 ½’ handlines both from the ground and the adjacent roof tops to drown out the fire.  106 firefighters achieved a knockdown of the blaze in one hour and 15 minutes with no injuries reported. The textiles warehouse was a total loss with less than 40% of the structure still standing but firefighters successfully defended the adjoining buildings.

The three structures involved (fire unit “A” plus adjoining buildings “B” and “D”) were all part of the same business. The Delta exposure, housing the offices and stock, sustained only minor damage to the roof and the 2nd warehouse (Bravo) was defended from any damage.

Per protocol for an incident of this size, LAFD Arson and Counter-Terrorism Section responded and is actively investigating the cause.

Dispatched Units: AR1 BC1 BC11 BC13 BC18 BC5 CM20 CM22 E10 E14 E15 E203 E21 E210 E215 E221 E226 E235 E26 E3 E33 E46 E66 EA1 EM1 EM11 HE2 HR3 PI3 RA14 RA15 RA246 RS3 SQ21 T10 T15 T21 T26 T3 T35 T9 UR3 UR88