A massive blaze in a northeast San Fernando Valley industrial building put scores of firefighters to the test, as the inferno combined with high outdoor temperature and humidity to make for an overtly oppressive battle.
The fire department was summoned by a passerby on July 1, 2013 to smoke showing from a 200’ x 75’ cinder block structure at 9415 Telfair Avenue. As teams of firefighters took to the roof, their colleagues extended large diameter hose lines to each side of the building and used power saws to force their way through rolling steel doors in an attempt to gain access to the seat of increasingly intense flames that fed on material for furniture manufacturing, as well as chemicals and cardboard used in furniture finishing and shipping. A sudden yet predictable failure of the lightweight roof allowed flames and smoke to tower in the sky.
The flames were confined to the building of fire origin, and extinguished in 1 hour and 52 minutes. LAFD crews spent an additional 15.5 hours on-site performing salvage and overhaul at the business, Kalfon Crafts Corp, which suffered a loss of $2.5 million.
—–
View more Department in Action photos by clicking here.
