By Jeremy Childs
Los Angeles Times
LOS ANGELES — Firefighters battled a “major emergency” structure fire that did extensive damage to multiple two-story apartment buildings in Hollywood on Wednesday evening, displacing 22 people, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.
The blaze was reported at 5:21 p.m. in the 7700 block of Hollywood Boulevard.
Fire officials said the incident was initially reported as two vehicles on fire inside a carport. By the time firefighters arrived, flames had reached the building’s attic. By 6:30 p.m., the blaze had spread to an adjacent apartment building.
A three-story apartment building next door, at the corner of Hollywood Boulevard and North Genesee Avenue, sustained smoke damage.
Crews knocked down the fire shortly after 7 p.m.
Firefighters rescued a woman with mobility issues who lived on the second floor of the first building. She was being treated at an area hospital Wednesday evening, and was described as being in fair condition after suffering burns and smoke exposure, according to the LAFD.
One firefighter suffered a hand laceration while responding to the blaze. He was treated at the scene and resumed fighting the fire. No other injuries were reported.
By 6 p.m., the fire had damaged the structural integrity of part of the first building and caused it to partially collapse, according to the Fire Department. The building has 32 units and measures 18,900 square feet across two stories, according to authorities. The LAFD described the second building as “nearly identical” to the first.
The fire rendered a total of 18 units in the two buildings uninhabitable. The American Red Cross responded to assist with finding temporary housing for the nearly two dozen people displaced.
The Los Angeles County Fire Department assisted with the response, which at its peak involved more than 100 firefighters. The cause of the fire was under investigation.
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