Three residents in Pico Union were pulled out of their homes Monday morning as more than 100 firefighters battled a fire in a vacant two-story house that collapsed and spread to nearby buildings.
Thick smoke rose over the neighborhood as crews responded around 9 a.m. to the 1200 block of South Bonnie Brae Street. Dozens of people gathered nearby, many watching and filming as flames tore through the structure and parts of the frame gave way.
According to Los Angeles Fire Department spokesperson Anthony Tubbs, three residents in a nearby home exposed to the fire were pulled out and evaluated by paramedics. LAFD said they are in stable condition and did not need to go to the hospital.
“Being that the initial address was completely involved in fire, they decided to take hand lines off and protect adjacent buildings,” Tubbs said.
“These are very challenging fires,” Tubbs said. “These older homes hide a lot of fire inside the walls. Sometimes it can run up into the attic, so it’ll be a very prolonged, involved operation trying to find out where the fire was seeded.”
Neighbors say the fire is the latest in a string of incidents at the property.
“We heard the noise of the helicopter and they were saying ‘Get out of the house, there’s a huge fire,’” said Lourdes Salazar, who lives nearby.
“About two weeks ago in the house next door there was a fire as well,” said Salazar’s daughter, Lulu. “We had to help out two handicapped people by dragging them out by their wheelchairs. It was so horrible. I think this is the fifth time this has happened in this particular spot.”
Property owner Rocio Geraldine and her husband recently purchased the property, a historic Crasftman style house, which already had structural damage from a previous fire.
She added people had been breaking into the property.
“We’ve been having issues with squatters coming in, and we’ve complained to the police but nobody has done anything about it,” she said. “I can’t be here 24/7 to see if people are going to try to burn down the property.”
When firefighters arrived Monday morning, the home was already heavily engulfed.
Lourdes Salazar said her son-in-law and some other neighbors helped two girls get out of their home on Monday morning as the Craftsman home burned next door.
“There were two girls and a boy that had to get out. The boy jumped out but the girls didn’t have appropriate shoes on and they were super nervous,” she said.
Crews remained at the scene later in the morning, putting out remaining hot spots and checking for damage.
According to LAFD’s latest update, about 120 firefighters responded. The fire was brought under control in about an hour and a half, and one firefighter had a minor injury.
The cause of the fire is under investigation, with the Los Angeles Police Department’s Arson Counter-Terrorism section assisting.
