Fire swept through three apartments and left five others damaged Thursday evening, in a greater alarm blaze that sent one resident and two firefighters to the hospital.

The Los Angeles Fire Department was notified at 9:15 PM on April 16, 2015, of a structure fire at 9010 Cedros Avenue in Panorama City. Firefighters arrived quickly to find smoke showing from the second floor of a g-shaped 55,000 square-foot, two-story garden style apartment building.

With heavy fire soon visible in two units on the second floor, eighty-nine firefighters under the command of Battalion Chief Charles Combs, boldly battled the flames, confining direct fire damage to two apartment units on the upper floor and one apartment below. Five other units sustained indirect damage during the fierce 32 minute fight to fully extinguish the flames.

A woman from the apartment of fire origin suffered a minor burn injury prior to the LAFD's arrival. Two male firefighters sustained non-life threatening injury in their effort to conquer the flames. One with minor facial burns, and the other an eye injury. All three were taken by LAFD Ambulance to area hospitals in fair condition. No other injuries were reported.

Disaster Action Team volunteers from the American Red Cross assisted 19 adults and 11 children displaced by the blaze. The 45 year-old building was equipped with functional smoke alarms as required by law, but did not feature optional fire sprinklers.

Though monetary impact from the fire is still being tabulated, LAFD responders prevented more than $1,492,950 in property loss by sparing 50 apartments from damage. The cause of the fire remains under active investigation.



Dispatched Units: E7 RA7 E81 RA81 T90 E90 E290 E275 T75 E475 EM17 BC12 BC10 E98 EM15 E298 T98 E39 DC42 EM17 BC15 T89 E289 E89 UR89 RA89 RA889 UR88 BC14 E11 RA90 RA75 RA98 EM14 RT83 AR2 RA75 RA89 EM9