Firefighters knocked down a fire that caused a roof collapse at a building in a commercial business area Friday morning near downtown Los Angeles.
The fire was reported at about 5:30 a.m. in the 1800 block of East Washington Boulevard, near the 10 Freeway. Part of the corrugated metal roof collapsed, but no injuries were reported.
The fire was knocked down at about 6:30 a.m.
The building previously housed a furniture refinishing business, according to the fire department. It is now used to recycle metal. The owner told NBC4 he was renovating the building and planned to rent it out to a business.
Firefighters would normally cut holes in the roof to ventilate heat from the fire, but they were unable to do so due to the instability of the roof.
"The roof did give in relatively early and we had large amount of fire, so we went into heavy streams at that point," said Battallion Chief David Thomas, of the Los Angeles Fire Department.
Firefighters went into defensive mode, meaning the building is not structurally safe enough to enter, and worked to protect nearby vacant buildings. No evacuations were ordered, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.
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A stretch of Washington Boulevard between Long Beach Avenue and Alameda Street remained closed early Friday.
Details regarding the building and cause of the fire were not immediately available.
