Koreatown fire destroys 2 homes, damages another; no injuries reported

A fire in Koreatown, at 173. S. Ardmore Avenue, on Friday afternoon caused serious damage to two homes and damage to a third home.

The cause of the fire was unknown as of press time.

There were no reported injuries, according to Los Angeles Fire Department West Bureau Commander Charles Butler, who appeared in a press conference as firefighters finished up extinguishing the flames.

The firefighting chief described the episode as “a two-story residential structure well involved in fire, exposing two additional residences. It took 43 minutes to knock the fire down. Almost 100 firefighters were on the scene controlling the fire. We had no victims. The reported cause is under investigation. We had reports of some kind of explosion we’re looking into right now.”

Firefighters responded to the scene at approximately 11:45 a.m., Butler said.

As firefighters stood on the roof of one home and hosed down the flames and billowing smoke, Marita Geraghty, a science teacher who was on on her way to work when she saw the fire and pulled over to see what was happening, said she feared a fire breaking out at her own home someday.

“This is my worst nightmare,” said Geraghty, a former actress (“Groundhog Day,” “Seinfeld”) and one of many people who crowded at the blocked-off corner of 2^nd street and Ardmore avenue to watch firefighters combat the flames.

Others were there for business reasons, including Zack Galajyan, CEO of a Koreatown-based Servpro, a franchise that conducts cleanup of places affected by water and fire damage. He said he did not know what the cause of the fire could be but that an investigation was necessary.

“We’ll get there, it takes time,” he said. “At this point all you can do is fence it up and make sure no one is going inside.”

Another home burned in the fire. Photo by Ryan Torok

Los Angeles Fire department west bureau commander Charles Butler delivers press conference after the firefighters put out the fire, which damaged three homes. He said there were no victims and that the cause was under investigation. Photo by Ryan Torok

The view of the structure fire from the Jewish Journal office. Photo by Julie Bien