At 11:14 p.m. (PST), fifteen companies of Los Angeles firefighters, five LAFD rescue ambulances, one arson unit, one urban search and rescue unit, one hazardous mterials squad, one EMS battalion captain, six battalion chief officer command teams and one division chief officer command team, a total of 109 Los Angeles Fire Department personnel under the direction of Assistant Chief Michael Fulmis, responded to a greater alarm structure fire at 3450 East Pico Blvd. in South Boyle Heights.
Firefighters responded quickly to a report of “alarms ringing” to discover heavy fire showing from a 75-by-100 foot, one-story commercial building.
The unoccupied business was quickly laddered and firefighters took to the flat lightweight roof as their colleagues used handlines to mount a bold initial offense within the stucco over woodframe structure. Both offensive flanks were driven back within moments by fire through the roof and signs of pending structural compromise.
Following a swift and seamless transition to defensive tactics, heavy stream appliances were brought to bear on the massive volume of fire within “Grover Products,” a diversified metalworking firm.
The fire was confined to the structure, which suffered partial collapse. The flames were extinguished in just fifty-nine minutes.
There were no injuries.
Loss from the fire is still being tabulated. The cause of this late Christmas Eve blaze remains under active investigation.