Firefighters extinguished a stubborn blaze inside a one-story commercial building in downtown Los Angeles, Saturday morning, a Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman said.
The fire at a garment store at 1138 S. Los Angeles Street, near 12th Street, in the Fashion District, was reported at 1 a.m., according to fire department spokesman Erik Scott.
The department dispatched 100 firefighters to battle the flames, Scott said. Firefighters forced entry through the front of the store. Ventilation teams cut holes in the arch roof and a backup fire effort began.
The flames caused the large second-floor mezzanine to collapse in the rear of the building, Scott continued. An office and storage was located on the mezzanine. The flames also threatened another building but firefighters managed to keep the fire contained to the original building.
Firefighters needed an hour and five minutes to knock it down, Scott said. A Building and Safety inspector has yellow tagged the building due to the extensive damage inside, Scott said.
No injuries were reported.
The cause of the fire remained under investigation, Scott added.
—City News Service