A fire broke out in a commercial business in downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday morning, triggering a large response from city firefighters and shutting down streets.

The blaze was reported about 5 a.m. at 1316 S. Margo Street, just a few doors down from a fire station and a couple of blocks from the convention center, fire officials said. The fire was chewing through loads of pallets and cardboard and sent plumes of smoke and flames through the roof where firefighters tried to make a stand, but the blaze was too much, officials said.

About 5:40 a.m., commanders issued a greater alarm call and ordered firefighters off the building’s roof.

“Based on conditions, incident commander made the decision to move to a defensive operation. Firefighters off the roof and out of the interior,” fire officials said in a media statement.


Los Angeles city firefighters battle a greater alarm structure fire in a commercial building in downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday morning. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

A firefighter got up on a ladder towering over the building and began blasting water toward its center, which was engulfed in flames with portions of the roof collapsed. Smoke blanketed downtown buildings and the nearby freeways.

The fire was finally extinguished about 8:30 a.m., officials said. Crews contained the fire to the single building and said the fire was stubborn because it was burning through densely stored clothing.

Parts of South Grand Avenue, Olive Street and Pico Boulevard were closed through the morning rush hour. No injuries were reported, and the cause of the fire had yet to be determined.


joseph.serna@latimes.com

For breaking California news, follow @JosephSerna on Twitter.

UPDATES:

9:45 a.m.: This post was updated with the fire being extinguished.


This post was originally published at 6:10 a.m.