Two Firefighters Injured, Family Displaced in North Hills Apartment Fire

NORTH HILLS - Two Los Angeles Firefighters were injured and a family of three displaced, when fire engulfed an apartment Saturday afternoon.

The Los Angeles Fire Department was summoned at 1:06 PM on September 21, 2013 to 8718 Parthenia Place in North Hills. Firefighters arrived swiftly at the 5,864 square-foot two-story garden-style building, to find one second floor apartment heavily involved with fire. With reports of people trapped in the inferno, an aggressive and well-coordinated attack on the fire quickly ensued.

While their colleagues battled the flames, LAFD Paramedics examined five neighbors who had tried accessing the smoke-charged apartment in a belief that occupants were trapped. Thankfully, the involved apartment had been equipped with properly installed and maintained smoke alarms, which alerted occupants and neighbors to escape in a timely manner.

The three occupants of the burning unit were without physical harm, and the five neighbors who acted in good will required no immediate care for their brief exposure to smoke. It took 44 firefighters under the command of Battalion Chief Curt Klafta, just 17 minutes to fully extinguish the flames, which were confined to the apartment of fire origin.

During fire attack, two firefighters were injured. One suffered first- and second-degree burns to his hands, ears, forehead and right knee. The other required treatment for smoke inhalation. Both men were transported to hospitals by Fire Department ambulance for what were considered non-life threatening injuries.

No other persons were injured. The woman and her two teenage sons displaced by the fire were provided on-site assistance with temporary living needs by American Red Cross Disaster Action Team volunteers.

LAFD crews spent an additional four hours at the scene mopping up the blaze while providing personal care and emotional support to residents of the eleven unit complex. Despite a lack of residential fire sprinklers, loss to the 57 year-old building was limited to $90,000 ($60,000 structure & $30,000 contents). The blaze is considered electrical in nature, attributed to a window mounted air conditioner.

Dispatched Units: E290 T90 RA90 E81 RA81 E275 T75 EM14 BC12 E98 E7 RA7 E287 T87 T87 E287 E275 T75 AR2 BC12

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Submitted by Brian Humphrey, Spokesman
Los Angeles Fire Department

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