A fire damaged several businesses in a strip mall in the Montecito Heights section of Los Angeles, but no one was hurt.
Firefighters were sent to the 5900 block of Monterey Road about 4:30 a.m., Wednesday, a Los Angeles Fire Department dispatcher said, adding that the single- story structure that houses the strip mall’s businesses was fully engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived.
The roof had partially collapsed, so firefighters assumed a defensive, “surround-and-drown” strategy in a successful effort to prevent the flames from spreading to other structures.
Television footage showed that the fire heavily damaged a sushi restaurant, a dry cleaners, and a hair salon. A doughnut shop also sustained some damage. By daybreak, the flames were contained, and by 7 a.m., the fire was out.
The cause of the fire was under investigation. A damage estimate was not immediately available.
During the firefighting effort, officers from the Los Angeles Police Department’s Hollenbeck Division routed traffic away from the scene, said police Sgt. Victor Arellano.
—City News Service