Fire heavily damaged a Koreatown home Friday and intense heat thwarted a resident’s effort to run through the flames and recover a dog inside, but fire officials said the animal managed to escape the burning structure.
“Marty McFly,” a 15-year-old Maltese, had already left when a male resident at the home at 953 S. Kenmore Ave. re-entered the burning dwelling, only to be turned back by the fire’s intense heat and smoke, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department reported.
Firefighters dispatched at 9:56 a.m. to the residence built in 1901 had the fire out within 19 minutes. Following the fire’s knock down, firefighters search the location and it was eventually learned that the dog had already made its way out.
The man who tried to re-enter the burning home in search of the animal was treated at the scene for smoke exposure and minor thermal injury, but declined to be taken to a hospital for further treatment, despite paramedics’ recommendations that he do so.
A firefighter suffered a “sizable” laceration to her left hand during the fire attack, said Brian Humphrey of the Los Angeles Fire Department.
Humphrey said she was “receiving clinical care. She is anticipated to soon return to duty.”
No other injuries were reported.
“Though the fire’s cause has yet to be formally determined, the investigation is currently focused on a handful of small lithium-ion batteries on the patio, that may prove to be the origin of the fire,” he said.