1 dead, 5 injured in fireworks blaze that drew response of over 130 firefighters
One man is dead and five others were injured in a residential fire involving active fireworks on Thursday that spread quickly to four properties, prompting a large-scale response from firefighters, officials said.
The fire involved a "significant amount of fireworks that were being stored," LAFD Firefighter David Ortiz said in an interview with KABC.
The incident occurred just after 9 p.m. in the Pacoima neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, when authorities say that three one-story homes were showing fire. The Los Angeles Fire Department responded to "active fireworks inside a detached garage are exposing more homes and brush in the area," according to information obtained from the LAFD by ABC News' Los Angeles station KABC.
"Fireworks were still actively detonating in the area, contributing to the spread of the fire and threatening nearby brush and structures," the fire department said Friday.
"I felt almost like the impact, you feel it. And as soon as I heard that, I turned the street to see if anyone needed help and more fireworks started going off," one area resident told KABC. "It felt like an explosion ... the fireworks started going off and sooner or later all these fires started coming."
A man around 30 years old was found dead after the fire was knocked out and 33-year-old woman was taken to the hospital in critical but stable condition, authorities said. Four others were treated for smoke inhalation at the scene and declined to be taken to the hospital.
Multiple animals were also injured in the fire and at least one injured dog was taken directly to an emergency veterinary hospital, the fire department said.
"The flames ultimately involved four primary homes, multiple attached and detached ADUs, and a parked vehicle on four total properties. Knockdown was declared at 9:51 PM, approximately 53 minutes after the initial report," the fire department said Friday.
It took more than 130 firefighters to battle the blaze and contain it in just under an hour, according to the LAFD.
Officials also identified a gas leak at one of the homes involved in the fire, prompting a response from the gas company. Live electrical wires also fell behind the initial three properties that were involved in the fire, and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power was called to manage the incident.
A gas leak was identified at one of the homes, prompting a response from the gas company. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power was also called to manage live electrical wires that had fallen behind the initial three properties.
The cause of how the fire started is under investigation.
"Right now we are encouraging people to leave the fireworks to the professionals. Obviously people that are not trained to handle fireworks are selling fireworks out of private residences and we need to change that culture -- change it to one where folks go see a professional show," Ortiz said.
"Southern California is not really a safe place to detonate these fireworks. They are very powerful and can start fires. We have a lot of dry vegitation," Ortiz said.
