WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY
18, 2015
ROSEMEAD, CALIFORNIA
Authorities continue to investigate the cause of a fire
Tuesday at a large condominium complex in Rosemead.
As KCAL9’s Brittney Hopper reports, one firefighter
sustained burns to his ears but was expected to be OK.
The fire at the building on N. Walnut Grove Avenue was
reported just before 4 p.m. and prompted the evacuation of close to 40 nearby
units, according to KNX 1070’s Claudia Peschiutta.“It’s kind of a panicky,
surreal feeling. Stuff you see in the movies, not right next door,” said Kevin
Foxx, a neighbor, who had a deputy knocking on his door, advising him to get
out immediately.
Louise Hirabayashi, another neighbor, lives in a unit near
the apartment where the fire started and told Hopper she heard glass break,
several explosions, and then saw flames coming toward her.
“I felt the ‘Boom.’ I thought it was like an earthquake but
then I felt it again and I said, ‘It wasn’t shaking like an earthquake,’ ”
Hirabayashi said.
She added: “That’s why I ran out. I called 911 because I saw
flames coming out of the windows. I saw all of the glass that was on the
walkway and I knew, ‘Oh gosh, I’ve got to get out of here.’ ”
Originally, investigators thought the explosions were pipe
bombs but none were found. What they did find was butane bottles used to make hash oil from marihuana. These bottles exploded and they originaly thought that they were pipe bombs.
An assistant chief with the Los Angeles County Fire
Department told Peschiutta, when firefighters arrived at the complex, they
found some items that raised concerns.
“The initial attack crews saw some, what may be,
suspicious-type devices,” he said. Most likely a hash oil lab.
No further information was available.