At 2:19 PM HRS, nine companies of Los Angeles firefighters, two LAFD rescue ambulances, one arson unit, one hazardous materials squad, one EMS battalion captain, two battalion chief officer command teams, and one assistant chief officer command team, under the direction of Assistant Chief Jay Turner responded to a greater alarm structure fire at 122 E. 7th St. in the Central City/Fashion District. First units on the scene reported a twelve-story textile building with light smoke showing from the fourth floor.
Initiating the Hi-Rise Incident Command System, arriving fire companies were immediately assigned duties to commence fire attack and other Hi -Rise fire related operations. After arriving on the fourth floor via an interior stairway and an exterior fire escape, Firefighters hoisted handlines up to the involved floor using drop bags. Entering the involved portion of the floor, firefighters immediately encountered heavy smoke but no flames. Hearing sprinklers discharging, Firefighters were able to ascertain to some degree that the fire was being held in check by the building’s Sprinkler System.
Using handlines brought aloft by firefighters via the stairwell and drop bags, Firefighters aggressively attacked the fire and confined the fire to several piles of rubbish and extinguished the fire in twenty-two minutes. Further investigation by firefighters revealed that the fire floor was “vacant” . As a safety precaution during fire containment and control, seventeen occupants were safely evacuated by firefighters while others were sheltered in placed and others had self-evacuated prior to the arrival of the Los Angeles Fire Department. No injuries were reported and the cause of the fire is listed as suspicious and under investigation. Vacant floor, no structure or content damage.