Three firefighters were hospitalized early Monday morning after battling a “major emergency” warehouse fire in downtown L.A.'s arts district.

Nearly 200 firefighters worked for three hours to knock down the flames in a wholesale fabric warehouse at 1915 E. 7th St.

Two firefighters had minor injuries and one suffered from exhaustion, said Capt. Erik Scott, spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Department. All are reported to be in stable condition.

Arson investigators in downtown Los Angeles, where fire destroyed a fabric business overnight in the 1900 block of E 7th Street. (Al Seib/Los Angeles Times)


Firefighters arrived on scene at about midnight to find a one-story row of buildings with fire on the roof and declared a “major emergency structure fire.”

The business at the address given by authorities was listed as Payman Fabric Inc.

Firefighters initially took an offensive approach, entering the building to fight the fire for about 15 minutes. But the intense flames forced them out, so they attacked the blaze with outside water sprays onto the roof.

Nearby businesses were not damaged, Scott said.


Throughout the early morning, firefighters continued to mop up the scene. The cause of the fire is under investigation.