At 5:14 p.m. (PST), seventeen Companies of Los Angeles firefighters, five LAFD rescue ambulances, two arson units, one urban search and rescue unit, one hazardous materials squad, one EMS battalion captain, four battalion chief officer command teams and one division chief officer command team, all under the direction of Battalion Chief Joseph Foley responded to a greater alarm structure fire at 16542 Ventura Blvd. in Encino.
Firefighters arrived quickly and despite initially discovering no signs of active fire at the five story sealed office building, immediately initiated LAFD’s high rise operations plan. The building’s fire control room was identified while the lobby and elevators were promptly secured.
As firefighters swiftly aided more than a dozen occupants in safely exiting the 40,295 square-foot multi-tenant building, they received reports of moderate smoke on the north end of the uppermost floor.
Given this information, additional LAFD resources were requested as teams of firefighters climbed stairs with the hundreds of pounds of equipment necessary to battle a potential high-rise fire.
Clearing each floor of the building as they ascended the stairs, firefighters established a logistics and support base on the a fourth floor as well as a rooftop ventilation group as they investigated pervasive smoke within the office and attic above a 5th floor orthodontic suite.
Aided by strategic opening of the composition roof over plywood sheathing by firefighters using chainsaws, the considerable smoke and heat from the fire was quickly vented vertically with the aid of positive pressure fans as firefighters fully extinguished a stubborn fire among the wooden rafters and recently applied roofing materials in just 37 minutes.
Quick and skillful teamwork by 117 members of the LAFD kept this fire above the attic and out of multitude of offices, several of which were undergoing renovation.
Firefighters were quick to credit building occupants for their prompt yet calm evacuation upon hearing the fire alarm, and for their swift activation of the 9-1-1 system.
There were no civilian or firefighter injuries.
Loss from the fire is estimated at $30,000 ($20,000 structure and $10,000 contents). The cause of this early evening blaze is attributed to a roofing operation earlier in the day.