On Monday, June 26, 2006 at 1:00 a.m., 10 companies of Los Angeles firefighters, seven LAFD rescue ambulances, one arson unit, one urban search and rescue unit, one rehab unit, one hazardous materials team, two EMS battalion captains, three battalion chief officer command teams, and one division chief officer command team, under the direction of Assistant Chief Tony Varela responded to a structure fire at 10829 N. Independence Ave. in the Chatsworth/Northridge area.
As firefighters arrived on scene they were immediately confronted with a two story, single family residence with fire showing from the front of the structure. Firefighters immediately began an interior fire attack, coordinated with simultaneous vertical ventilation by firefighters on the roof.
Additional firefighters conducted a search of the occupancy for any trapped victims, and determined that no one was trapped inside the structure. The fire was confined to the structure of origin and was extinguished in approximately 35 minutes.
Further investigation revealed the evidence of a large scale drug lab in operation at the time of blaze. For the safety of the neighboring community, the Los Angeles Police Department’s bomb squad were requested to evaluate the scene for the possibility of incendiary devices. There were no reported injuries. The cause of the fire is under investigation and the dollar loss is still being tabulated.