[symple_googlemap title=”Big 5 fire Torrance” location=”18308 Hawthorne Blvd, Torrance, CA” height=”300″ zoom=”16″]
A three-alarm fire destroyed a Big 5 store in Torrance, but no one was injured.
The blaze inside the sports equipment store was reported at 8:18 p.m. Thursday, according to Torrance Fire Department Capt. Robert Millea.
The flames burned through the roof of the building at 18308 Hawthorne Blvd., about one block south of the South Bay Galleria, in the first 10 minutes firefighters were at the scene, Millea said. The ranking fire official at the scene ordered firefighters off the roof five minutes later, just five minutes before the structure partially collapsed.
The Torrance Fire Department called a third alarm because of the size and the intensity of the blaze, Millea said.
A total of 44 firefighters were dispatched from the Torrance Fire Department, Millea said. Redondo Beach also sent four firefighters to the scene.
The fire was finally knocked down about 8:50 p.m. Thursday, Millea said.
Hawthorne Boulevard and Ashley Avenue were closed between 182nd and 186th streets as firefighters battled the blaze, police said.
The cause of the fire remained under investigation. Arson investigators were called to the scene — a normal procedure in the case of large fires.
—City News Service