Fire Guts Ventura Boulevard Strip Mall

SHERMAN OAKS, CA — A greater alarm fire gutted several businesses in a strip mall in Sherman Oaks overnight, but no one was hurt, authorities said Thursday.

Firefighters were called to the scene at 15033 Ventura Blvd. near Kester Avenue at 10:48 p.m. Wednesday. They arrived to find the vacant businesses fully engulfed in flames. It took 75 firefighters more than an hour to put out the blaze, which was extinguished shortly after midnight.

The cause of the fire was under investigation by the LAFD Arson and Counter-Terrorism Section.

The fire damaged a hair salon, a nail salon, a smoke shop, a shoe repair shop and a former tailoring shop, the Los Angeles Daily News reported.

Drivers were advised to avoid the area early Tuesday morning amid cleanup efforts.