A kitchen fire that spurned bystander's efforts to control, caused heavy damage to a San Fernando Valley apartment at noon Thursday, sending one man to the hospital.

The Los Angeles Fire Department was summoned by a 9-1-1 call at 11:44 AM on February 18, 2021 to respond to a structure fire at 9850 Reseda Boulevard in Northridge, where firefighters from nearby Fire Station 70 arrived within moments to discover smoke showing from the third floor of a three story apartment building.

Flames from a stovetop fire fueled by cooking oil had spread quickly through the third floor apartment, and despite the efforts of the resident and later neighbor to extinguish the fire with a pair of handheld fire extinguishers, flames soon broke windows, allowing strong winds to fan the blaze and thick smoke through the top floor of the largely center hallway style apartment building

With the thick smoke challenging the escape of occupants from several of the 52 other apartment units, firefighters swiftly ascended ground and aerial ladders to perform strategic vertical ventilation of the attic with chainsaws, making the top floor exit paths more tenable to escapees, and allowing their colleagues with hoselines to more readily attack the seat of the fire.

That well-coordinated effort by 95 LAFD responders under the command of Assistant Chief Corey Rose, had the flames extinguished in just 33 minutes, limiting fire damage to the apartment of origin, with minimal impact of firefighting water limited to a pair of apartments below.

Though the 60,246 square-foot building, constructed in 1965, was not equipped with optional fire sprinklers, properly functioning fire alarms did allow most residents to safely escape, including a man subsequently rescued by firefighters via a ground ladder from a third floor apartment.

Three residents were examined for injury by LAFD Paramedics, with only one person, the neighbor who came to the resident's aid, desiring hospital care following his exposure to smoke within the burning apartment.

Monetary loss from the fire is still being tabulated. The cause of this greater alarm fire is considered accidental.

Dispatched LAFD Units: E70  RA70  E103  RA903  E287  T87  E273  T73  E8  BC15  BC12  RA73  EM15  RA87  E104  E296  T96  E28  E293  T93  CM42  EM10  EM17  BC17  BC10  UR88  T89  E289  UR89  RA89  E27  HR3  BC14  E89  PI1 

Incident Photo Album