Crime & Safety
2 Firefighters Injured in 2-Alarm Building Fire
The flames tore through the roof of the vacant building, forcing crews into a defensive mode.
EL MONTE, CA - A fire tore through an apparently vacant commercial building in El Monte on Thursday, with flames shooting through the roof and forcing crews into a defensive mode.
The two-alarm blaze erupted around 4:30 p.m. at East Valley Boulevard and North Monterey Avenue, according to Los Angeles County Fire Department Inspector Randall Wright.
About 50 county firefighters were dispatched to the scene and quickly assumed a defensive posture, pouring water on the building from the outside.
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A knockdown on the fire was declared at 6:53 p.m., according a county fire department official said.
Two firefighters were injured battling the flames, according to the department. One firefighter suffered heat exhaustion and the second minor burns and a laceration, according to the department.
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The cause of the fire remained under investigation. According to the department, homeless people have been seen inside the building in the past.
--City News Service, photo courtesy of the LACFD