The LAFD was called just before 9:00 AM on July 13, 2014, to 1001 North Orange Drive. Firefighters arrived in three minutes to find smoke and fire billowing from Highland Plating Company, a 100′ by 150′ one story brick building. Firefighters made an aggressive interior fire attack but were driven back by intense heat and flames. Seven minutes into the battle a coordinated retreat was ordered and the operation took a defensive posture. Firefighters used large diameter hose and water streams from ladder trucks to attack the blaze.
To combat concerns of run off, firefighters built a series of dams and filtering systems to reduce contaminants, while Haz Mat teams tested both the air and water.
Nearly 150 firefighters had the bulk of the fire extinguished in just over two hours.
—–
See more photos from this incident. Click here.