On Wednesday, April 30, at 5:31 AM, 23 Companies of Los Angeles Firefighters, 6 LAFD Rescue Ambulances, 2 Arson Units, 2 Urban Search and Rescue Units, 1 Rehab Unit, 2 CERT Coordinators, 1 Hazardous Materials Team, 4 EMS Battalion Captains, 7 Battalion Chief Officer Command Teams, 1 Division Chief Officer Command Team, Emergency Air 1, Building and Safety, Structural Engineers, Street Maintenance, DWP, DOT and LAPD, all under the direction of Deputy Chief Mario Rueda, responded to the Major Emergency Structure Fire at 6263 W. Hollywood Bl. in the Hollywood area.
The initial call into the OCD Dispatch Center indicated a large commercial building was on fire at the corner of Hollywood and Vine. The first responding Firefighters on scene found a one story, multi occupancy commercial building with heavy smoke and fire showing from the one end of the building, known as the Basque restaurant and night club. Additional companies were requested immediately because of the size of the occupancy.
As fire companies arrived on scene, a monumental interior attack was initialed on the fire. Firefighters fought the intense blaze for approximately twenty minutes experiencing restrictive compartmentalization to the interior of the occupancy as well as other obstacles, which hindered efforts to get to the seat of the fire. The Incident Commander ordered companies to withdraw from the interior and go to a defensive attack to regain control of the fire.
The roof ventilation team fought through heavy smoke to start a trenching operation to assist Firefighters on hose lines. Other roof top obstacles were 2 large air conditioning units and a billboard that posed early concerns to the IC regarding the safety of interior firefighting teams.
At 0720 hours, the bulk of the fire had been knocked down and the decision was made to re-engage an interior attack with handlines. Shortly afterwards, the billboard flexed and shifted initiating an Emergency Traffic warning to be issued for all Firefighters to evacuate the building to a safe location. With all members accounted for, handlines were but back in operation by Firefighters from a safe distance and successfully extinguished the fire.
It took a total of 180 Firefighters 2 hours and 27 minutes to completely knockdown the fire. The cause and estimated dollar loss are undetermined until the completion of the fire investigation. Of the four occupancies in the building, the Basque restaurant / night club and the Blood Shot tattoo parlor experienced severe damage. Sandee's shoe repair and the San Miguel Spa and Salon experienced moderate damage. Building and Safety Inspectors and Structural Engineers will assess the structural integrity of the building. There were no reports of injury to civilians or Firefighters.
