HOLLYWOOD HILLS—On Saturday, November 16, the Los Angeles Fire Department reported that a fast-moving fire in Hollywood consumed an automotive parts store and seriously damaged a pair of adjacent restaurants.
The LAFD received the first of several 9-1-1 calls at 4:21 p.m. on November 16, reporting a fire at 1306 North Highland Avenue in Hollywood.
Firefighters arrived quickly at the northeast corner of Highland Avenue and Fountain Avenue to find heavy smoke showing from AutoZone, an automotive parts retailer anchoring a 10,100 square foot one-story L-shaped strip mall that shared a roof and attic with an adjoining delicatessen and sushi restaurant.
Assuring all occupants safely evacuated AutoZone, first arriving firefighters, bolstered by additional responders, commenced an unwavering attack with handlines on ever-growing flames deep within the auto parts store for a half-hour, until conditions became untenable due to visible structural compromise.
The flames were fed by contents of the auto parts store that spread within the attic to heavily impact the northern section of Fat Sal’s Deli and the adjacent Sushi Ajito, a well-coordinated transition was made to defensive operations as 124 LAFD responders under the command of Assistant Chief Douglas Lewis worked tirelessly for an additional 90 minutes to fully extinguish the major emergency blaze before any off premises buildings could be affected. There were no injuries were reported.
Though 9-1-1 callers initially reported an “explosive fire” involving a “battery” within the auto parts store that employees sought unsuccessfully to control with fire extinguishers, the specific cause of the fire remains under active investigation.
By Trevor