At 6:04 a.m., eleven companies of Los Angeles city firefighters, five rescue ambulances, one arson unit, one urban search and rescue unit, one EMS battalion captain, two battalion chief officer command teams and one division chief officer command team, all under the direction of Battalion Chief Robert Franco responded to a structure fire at 544 N. Larchmont Blvd. in southeast Hollywood. Firefighters arriving on the scene found a one-story, 50-by-75 foot, commercial building with fire showing through the roof.
Firefighters gained access to the interior of the structure and discovered a well involved attic fire. As firefighters attacked the fire from the interior of the structure, fellow firefighters on the roof simultaneously conducted vertical ventilation operations. Firefighters were able to contain the fire in 30 minutes and limit the damage to the attic portion of the building. The occupancy, a Jewish Social Center for the Blind, was unoccupied at the time of the fire. The dollar loss was estimated at $170,000 ($150,000 structure and $20,000 contents). An investigation conducted by an LAFD arson unit has determined that a transient had started a warming fire against the building which eventually found it’s way into the attic causing the fire. The transient was arrested by LAFD arson investigators. There were no reported injuries.