Man critically burned in Westlake house fire
Firefighters Saturday evening battled a greater alarm fire that gutted a Craftsman-style house in the Westlake area of Los Angeles and critically burned one man.
The fire was reported at 6:54 P.M. in a house at 734 and 736 S. Hartford Ave., said the Los Angeles Fire Department's Brian Humphrey.
Heavy flames were showing from the house when firefighters arrived, Humphrey said.
"Firefighters took more than two hours in largely defensive operations, to access and confine heavy, stubborn flames on both floors and the attic of [an]apparently vacant and boarded 3,248 square foot two-story Craftsman-style home built in1906 that had been converted to a residential duplex," he said.
A man suffered third-degree burns to both legs but managed to get out of the burning house, Humphrey said. Paramedics treated him at the scene and took him to a regional burn center where he was in critical condition.
There were no reports of injuries to other civilians or firefighters or anyone missing in or near the heavily damaged building, he said.
The LAFD brought in heavy equipment to tear down collapsing portions of the building and firefighters planned to remain at the scene through the night to drown smoldering debris, Humphrey said.
The cause was under investigation.