Two LAFD Firefighters Injured, Thirteen Residents Displaced by Westlake Apartment Fire
Saturday, November 25, 2017
LAFD Spokesperson: Brian Humphrey
WESTLAKE-
Two Los Angeles Firefighters sustained injury and thirteen residents were displaced by a fierce predawn blaze Saturday morning in an apartment building west of MacArthur Park.
The Los Angeles Fire Department was summoned at 5:45 AM on November 25, 2017 to 2900 Sunset Place in Westlake, where firefighters arrived quickly to find the four-story Sunset Pointe Apartments building of three occuped floors over parking, with heavy flames showing from one unit on the second floor, extending into a unit on the building's uppermost floor, directly above.
One hundred and six firefighters under the command of Battalion Chief Ernest Bobadilla confined direct fire damage to apartments 207 and 307, extinguishing the flames in just 40 minutes. During their tenacious initial attack of the blaze, one Firefighter and one Fire Captain sustained painful though non-life threatening burns to their ears. The men were taken by LAFD ambulance to an area hospital for primary care, where they were treated and released.
There were no significant injuries to occupants of the 72 apartments in the 56,577 square-foot building constructed in 1971, which was equipped with functional smoke alarms as required by law, but did not feature optional residential fire sprinklers.
Volunteers from the American Red Cross responded to assist thirteen displaced residents from units deemed temporarily untenable due to fire or collateral heat, smoke or water damage, while Inspectors from the City's Department of Building & Safety examined the building to determine what repairs would be necessary before residents could return.
Monetary loss from the fire is still being tabulated. The cause of the greater alarm blaze remains under active investigation.
Dispatched Units: E211 E11 T11 RA11 RA811 E6 E13 E229 T29 SQ21 BC11 BC1 RA13 EM11 E35 RA6 E29 RA29 E220 T20 T3 E203 CM22 EM1 EM13 EM9 BC13 E3 HR3 T27 E227 UR27 RA827 UR88 BC5 T33 E233 EA1 E226 T26 E61 AR1 PI1 AR9 AR1
