One employee was severely injured and dozens of building residents were evacuated after a fire started in a Downtown Los Angeles high rise building. Located at 255 S Grand, the Chipotle restaurant on the ground floor of the building was undergoing renovations when some electrical wires were cut. Firefighters responded at 8:29 a.m. on Monday morning.
Smoke was sent into the upper floors of the 27-story building, although the fire was contained within the restaurant and extinguished within about 20 minutes of firefighters’ arrival, around 8:50 a.m. KTLA reports that firefighters were responding to an unconfirmed possible explosion.
Arson investigators, the building engineer, and the LAFD Fire Prevention Bureau Inspector were also called to the scene.
The injured individual was transported to a hospital with 2nd and 3rd degree burns across 60 percent of his body, as reported by Fox LA. He was working on the restaurant renovations at the time. Firefighters are hopeful for the man, and he is expected to survive.
Only one other person was sent to the hospital out of an abundance of caution for smoke inhalation. Others were evaluated but medical aid was not deemed necessary by officials.
In CBS Los Angeles, LAFD Captain Erik Scott said this of the injured individual: “The adult male that we were immediately met by, who tragically was on fire, who suffered second and third-degree burns on 50% of his body, does appear to be a worker who was on the ground level inside of this restaurant that was undergoing renovation,”
There were also residents who discussed their experiences and fears during the surprise fire. One of these, Dana Ruiz, said, “So when I go outside, I’m on the 22nd floor, and it’s just smoke. Just billowing everywhere.”
Speaking upon the subject further, she described her surroundings: “I couldn’t even see anything, so I’m obviously panicking. So we just start running down the stairs. I’m not even kidding, I thought I was gonna die.”
Another resident also described the situation.
“I’m like right above it. I heard the explosion and then I heard the intercom in the apartments telling us to get out. But by the time I got out the hallway was full of smoke and it was dark already. So I thought I was too late,” said Rosa Gasparin.
“I went back in. And then there was a family that was trying to get down, and I just kind of pulled them into my apartment because they couldn’t see the stairs.”
The firefighters were able to clear all of the elevators in the building by 9:04 a.m, according to NBC Los Angeles. Further, those who had evacuated to the roof were all safely escorted out of the building down the stairwells.
Approximately 60 people were evacuated out of the building. While there are also offices in the building, the highrise mostly consists of homes, containing 391 residential units and housing over 700 people, as noted by the Fire Department.
Additionally, the building tenants were put into temporary housing for 4 hours until repopulation of the building eventually became possible. ABC7 Los Angeles states that the Fire Department was clearing smoke from the building during this time.
Spectrum News 1 reports that over 120 firefighters were assigned to fight the building fire. Fire Department spokesperson Margaret Stewart described that “Upon arrival, firefighters saw heavy, white pressurized smoke billowing out from the ground floor restaurant.”
She continued, “Due to the size of the structure and high potential for life hazard, an additional five task forces were requested to include the airborne firefighting companies.”
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