Westlake building fire: Police say barricaded suspect threw lit objects at officers
A battery suspect believed to have caused a massive building fire in the Westlake District Thursday night was in custody, and several families and businesses were displaced Friday morning.
Firefighters responded to the fire at the intersection of 7th and Hoover streets at 5:15 p.m. Thursday. The fire began on an apartment on the second floor, and firefighters battled the fire from the roof.
Los Angeles police officers responded to a report of a battery suspect at the location on the 2800 block of West 7th Street at about 3 p.m.
Police said a 45-year-old man possibly armed with a knife had barricaded himself inside his sister's apartment, blocking the front door with a couch. When officers confronted him, he allegedly began lighting items on fire and throwing them at officers, including clothing, trash and furniture. The building fire likely began in this apartment, investigators said.
The building was evacuated as firefighters fought the blaze.
There is no sprinkler system in the building, according to the Los Angeles Fire Dept.
The suspect reportedly jumped off the balcony of the apartment before his arrest. He was hospitalized with burns and was taken into police custody.
Friday morning, several families and businesses were displaced due to severe water damage and concerns about the building's structural integrity.
In addition to the residents on the second floor of the two-story building, the first floor businesses displaced include an electronics store, a beauty supply store, and an income tax preparer. Broken glass littered the sidewalk and foam was still on the ground Friday morning.
Authorities evacuated 10 tenants of the building, which holds eight residential units, all on the second floor. All eight are considered destroyed, and several of the businesses below suffered major water damage, firefighters said Thursday night.
The city posted Red Notices on the building, indicating it's too dangerous to enter. The cause of the fire remained under investigation.
"Based on the initial information that we have from law enforcement, it could be a probable cause," LAFD Assistant Chief Dean Zipperman said. "Our arson team is working with LAPD to gather all of those facts, all of the information, to come up with a cause."
The fire was extinguished by 6:20 p.m. It took 110 firefighters to knock down the fire.
During the course of their efforts to extinguish the fire, firefighters often came dangerously close to the flames bursting forth as they battled from the roof of the building.
"This is something that we do train for," said Zipperman. "That's our business. We will take all those extreme times where we put ourselves out there based on the factors that there may be lives at risk."
Displaced residents are being assisted by the Mayor of Los Angeles's Crisis Response Team and Red Cross.
