Thursday, January 29, 2015

2 PEOPLE BELIEVED DEAD AFTER FIRE AT 17-UNIT INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA APARTMENT. CAUSE AND ORIGIN OF THE FIRE IS UNDER INVESTIGATION




2 PEOPLE BELIEVED DEAD AFTER FIRE AT 17-UNIT INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA APARTMENT.  CAUSE AND ORIGIN OF THE FIRE IS UNDER INVESTIGATION



January 29, 2015,





Two people were believed to be dead and a firefighter sustained a minor hand injury after a fire ripped through a 17-unit apartment in Inglewood early Thursday morning, officials at the scene said.

 About 55 firefighters battled a blaze at an Inglewood apartment on Jan. 29, 2015. (Credit: OnScene)




Firefighters responded to a blaze in the 600 block of Queens Street (map) around 2:30 a.m. L.A. County Fire Inspector Randall Wright said.



About 55 firefighters worked nearly an hour to knock down the two-alarm blaze, and fire officials remained on the scene as of 5 a.m.



An assistant fire chief at the scene told KTLA two people were found dead in a single unit, but Wright could not confirm the deaths.



After the blaze was extinguished, those who lived at the three-level apartment recounted efforts undertaken by their neighbors to alert everyone to the fire.



“We just woke up, somebody was yelling fire,” one resident told KTLA. “We looked out, we saw unit two – the balcony was engulfed in flames and we just started yelling, ‘everyone get out.’”



A second resident said one neighbor ran to their car and honked its horn repeatedly.

 Two people were believed to be dead after a fire ripped through an Inglewood apartment on Jan. 29, 2015. (Credit: OnScene)




“I’m very, very grateful for them,” the woman said. “I was totally asleep and the horn honked and honked, and I was awaken and angry …. and when I awoke I could see my bedroom was orange from the flames from across the way. So I’m eternally grateful.”



Although one resident said he had smoke alarms inside his apartment, multiple residents told KTLA they did not hear any alarms during the ordeal.



Another resident said she believed the two people who were said to be dead lived with the building owner, but were not the owner himself.



The injured firefighter could be seen being treated at the scene, video showed. His injuring were minor, Wright said.


The cause of the fire and extent of the damage was not immediately known.