At least nine people have been injured so far in a fire that burned part of a 25-story residential high-rise in the City of Angels.
— Andrew (@SiderisAndrew) January 29, 2020
Photos shared on social media show thick black smoke and orange flames emanating from the sixth floor of the Barrington Plaza apartments at around 8:30 a.m. local time. In one photo, a resident of the high-rise is seen hanging on to a facade of the building while waiting to be rescued.
— Sotiri Dimpinoudis (@sotiridi) January 29, 2020
Photos of helicopters at the scene show people being rescued from the building’s roof. At least 15 people were transported from the roof to the hospital, USA Today reported. One of the victims includes a 3-month-old baby, according to the Los Angeles Times.
— Shark NewsWires (@SharkNewsWires) January 29, 2020
— Chief Terrazas (@LAFDChief) January 29, 2020
Los Angeles City Fire Chief Ralph Terrazas told reporters on the scene that one unidentified suspect is currently in custody over the fire.
— David Murphy (@DavidCMurphy) January 29, 2020
"Right now, we're labeling this a suspicious fire," Terrazas told USA Today. "We do have a suspect in custody."
“This was a Herculean effort by the members of the Los Angeles Fire Department,” Terrazas added, the Los Angeles Times reported. “It takes a lot of coordination, and our resources did a good job.”
— Jon Baird (@KNXBaird) January 29, 2020
A release by the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) confirmed that a total of 335 personnel responded to the fire by ground and air. The LAFD was assisted by the Santa Monica Fire Department, the Los Angeles Police Department, the LA Sheriff and other “allied agencies.” The release also confirms that the fire was extinguished one hour and 19 minutes after it was first reported.
“There were 8 civilian patients. Most suffered from smoke exposure, and six (no info on age/gender/condition/affiliation/circumstances) were transported to area hospital, including one person who was in grave condition,” the release explains.
The release also notes that even though “reliable eyewitnesses vividly” described one or more people jumping from the sixth floor of the building, the LAFD surmises that “such person/s may have appeared, disappeared (returned briefly inside) and returned to the building's exterior in an area heavily charged with smoke, leading the eyewitnesses to believe they had jumped rather than temporarily retreated into the building.”
The fire’s cause is currently under investigation.
