Laundry Room Fire Stopped From Advancing
While fire doors contained the flames, firefighter's quick work getting a hose line aloft ensured the rest of the apartments were spared.
At 10:23AM on December 8, 2023 the Los Angeles City Fire Department responded to a reported structure fire in the 8500 block of N Tobias Av in Panorama City.
The first arriving fire company found a four story, garden-style apartment building (three floors of residential over parking) with smoke showing. The local stations knew the layout of this building due to their pre-fire planning exercises and immediately initiated an offensive interior fire attack while the truck company ascended the aerial ladder to the roof to conduct a vertical ventilation operation.
While firefighters were working to locate the seat of the fire, they found an occupant unable to evacuate the building on his own. A rescue operation ensued with firefighters escorting him out of the building and to the waiting firefighter/paramedics while those on the hose line focused on the fire found in the 3rd floor laundry room.
The 34 firefighters, operating under the command of Battalion Chief Logan Fields, extinguished the fire in just 21 minutes. Their quick actions combined with the effectiveness of the fire doors prevented the fire from extending down the hallway into the adjoining units.
The 64 year old male patient was transported to the hospital in fair condition due to smoke inhalation.
LAFD Arson and Counter-Terrorism Section (ACTS) responded for the investigation per protocol for a fire with injury. It remains an active investigation.
