Fire crews work to put out flames in Chinatown apartment buildings, 6 injured, 1 critical

Los Angeles City Fire Department crews battled a massive residential Chinatown fire that began early Friday in an apartment building under construction which quickly spread to an adjacent occupied apartment building.

LAFD officials said six people were injured and one person was transported to the hospital in critical condition. Two of the six injured include firefighters, one "with a non-life threatening extremity injury ... and one with probable heat exhaustion." 

Los Angeles Building and Safety officials are evaluating the building that residents fled from to determine which units can be occupied, as 70 people are affected. The Red Cross is assisting.

Crews responded at 3:43 a.m. to the building under construction in the 700 block of West New Depot Street. Officials said flames rapidly spread to the neighboring three-story apartment building in the 800 block of Bunker Hill Avenue, causing residents to evacuate. Firefighters worked to make sure all the residents were out of the building as they fought the flames. 

Other neighboring buildings were affected as well, with fire crews working at each.

"So we have a total of three buildings that have been affected right now, but there's going to be some smoke damage, and we have firefighters in a fourth building as well," LAFD Captain Adam VanGerpen said. 

The cause of the fire is not yet known. The LAFD Arson Section will be in charge of investigating the cause of the fire.