A fire damaged a two-story apartment building in Koreatown Friday and left four people injured, one critically.
According to the Los Angeles Fire Department, firefighters were dispatched to the 400 block of South Gramercy Place, near Fourth Street and Western Avenue, at 8:39 a.m. Friday, where they saw a man trying to escape through a second-story window. He was safely assisted down a ladder without injury.
Firefighters found the flames in a utility room below ground, where a man had collapsed on the stairwell. He was immediately removed, and fire crews began advanced life-saving measures before having him taken to a hospital for further treatment. It took over 70 firefighters 30 minutes to extinguish the flames.
“The fire was primarily contained to the utility room with smoke damage on the first and second floors. Despite the appearance from the exterior, the building was in fact a two-story single-family home converted into 20 units,” the LAFD said in a statement.
The building was yellow-tagged by the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety due to smoke and fire damage, displacing approximately 20 families who are receiving assistance from the American Red Cross.
“While multiple lithium-ion bicycle batteries were found to be charging in the room at the time of the fire, LAFD Arson and Counter-Terrorism Section investigated, and the cause was classified undetermined but not suspicious in nature,” the LAFD said.
Four people sustained injuries. One was taken to a hospital in critical condition, while the other three were assessed at the scene for smoke inhalation and declined further medical assistance.