On December 8th, 2014 companies arrived at 906 North Fremont Avenue and found heavy fire showing from a 200′ x 900′ seven story building under construction. Two stories were concrete while the remaining five floors were exposed lumber. 50 foot flame lengths caused the closure of all north bound lanes of the 110 Freeway.
250 firefighters battled the fire defensively utilizing large hose streams from the ground and aerial ladders from above. The intensity of the flames quickly ignited several floors of a 16 story adjacent high-rise, 221 North Figueroa St. The bulk of the fire was knocked down in just over 90 minutes. Firefighters managed flair-ups and worked with LAFD bulldozers for nearly 24 hours to fully extinguish the deep seeded smoldering lumber.
The LAFD Arson/Counter-Terrorism Section along with the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives National Response Team conducted the investigation and determined that the fire was an act of arson. Damages are expected to exceed $30 million.
Click here to view more spectacular photo from this incident.