Eight Firefighters Injured In Venice Structure Fire
Video by Andrea Martinez
A fire at a Venice storage facility, which injured eight firefighters and caused severe damage, was put out before 10 a.m. Monday, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.
More than 365 firefighters battled the fire for over 14 hours. The fire was first reported at 7:37 p.m. Saturday at Extra Space Storage on 658 Venice Blvd.
Combustible items inside the storage units fueled the flames and created extremely hot and smoky conditions. The building’s metal roof made it difficult for heat and smoke to escape. Firefighters were forced to use diamond-tipped rotary saws to open dozens of locked metal doors and cut through exterior stucco walls to allow horizontal ventilation, firefighters said.
"Firefighters battled until they were low on air and had to exit to get new air bottles, then rejoined the fight,'' Brian Humphrey from the Los Angeles Fire Department said.
Three of the eight firefighters were taken to the hospital for injuries. One suffered a back injury and two were hospitalized for heat exhaustion.
The firefighters were able to contain direct fire damage to a third of the building’s rental storage units.
But according to Humphrey, business owners and those with storage units won't be able to access their belongings until later Monday.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
