#VIDEO: I’ve NEVER seen a fire like this before #DTLA #losangeles @ABC7 (Vid credit: TJ Holoway) #lafd #bre… https://t.co/4RViXcn3yr
— Gisela Margarita (@ABC7Gisela) December 8, 2014
County employees who work in buildings damaged by Monday’s downtown inferno are all expected to be back at their desks on Wednesday.
The radiant heat from the fire that decimated the Da Vinci apartment complex under construction alongside the Harbor (110) Freeway melted window blinds and cracked and broke some windows of the Health Department building at 313 N. Figueroa St.
“We were really fortunate,” county spokesman David Sommers said.
A very early estimate of the cost to repair observable damage came in at $65,000, but Sommers said the county was waiting to hear from other managers about cleanup, smoke decontamination and other potential costs.
The county’s nearby Central Public Health Center, at 241 N. Figueroa, had no visible damage. However, it was closed to the public Monday and today.
County workers assessed the structural integrity of both buildings and an adjacent county parking structure, while public health workers evaluated air quality.
There was some cosmetic damage to stairwells and the roof of the parking structure, but it was deemed safe for occupancy, as were both buildings, Sommers said.
The Fremont Avenue entrance to the parking structure is expected to remain closed for several days while firefighters and construction crews continue investigations and cleanup.
The county also leases space at 201 N. Figueroa, where building management restricted access while they flushed the building air and changed filters to clear out smoke.
— City News Service