Three firefighters were injured battling a fire at a century-old church in South Central Los Angeles early Sunday, including one firefighter who needed to be rescued when the ceiling collapsed on him, according to KTLA 5 News.
Crews arrived at the Victory Baptist Church around 2: 30 a.m. too find heavy smoke and intense flames.
They rushed in to try to save the historic church, but about 25 minutes into the firefight, a mayday was called.
“The mayday was an announcement of an emergency…where we had a partial roof collapse of this building while firefighters were inside mounting an attack,” Los Angeles Fire Department spokesperson David Ortiz told KTLA.
“The firefighters…had to cut away material that had trapped (a crew) member when the ceiling and the walls collapsed on him.”
The injured firefighter was taken to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Two other firefighters sustained minor injuries.
The church could not be saved.
The arson unit was on scene to investigate the cause of the fire.
