Person Found Dead at Los Angeles Residential Fire
Despite the quick response of firefighters, a person was discovered dead beneath rubble at a structure fire in the Manchester Square area Friday morning.
The Los Angeles Fire Department received the first of several 9-1-1 calls at 7:14 AM on April 20, 2018, reporting a burning structure to the rear of 1836 West 75th Street. Firefighters arrived in less than 4 minutes to find a detached garage that had been formally converted to living quarters, well involved with fire, with evidence of structural collapse - and the building's 65 year-old male resident unaccounted for. Twenty-six LAFD firefighters under the command of Battalion Chief David Reddix confined the fire to the approximately 600 square-foot structure, extinguishing flames in just 22 minutes. In surveying the collapased interior, firefighters discovered human remains believed to be those of the missing man. Badly trapped beneath a collapsed ceiling and beyond medical help, the person was determined to be dead at the scene.
No other injuries were reported. As volunteers from the Mayor's Crisis Response Team were summoned to support grieving bystanders, the City's Department of Building & Safety dispatched an Inspector to assess damage to the home. Though there was no immediate evidence of a functional smoke alarm on firefighters' arrival, the presence and functional status of the mandated devices could not be immediately determined. There were no obvious factors, besides the structural collapse, that should have affected a person's ability to escape the premises. The structure was not equipped with residential fire sprinklers. A positive identification of the dead person, to include the cause, time and manner of their death will be determined by the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner. Monetary loss from the fire is still being tabulated, while the cause of the blaze and person's death remains the focus of an active investigation. Dispatched Units: E266 E66 T66 RA66 RA866 E57 E233 T33 BC13 T15 E215 E21 RA57 EM13 AR1 PH1 AR10 AR39 AR17 AR37 PI1 T5 E205 UR5 T66 E266 EM13
