Fire Burns Six Story L.A. Apartment Building

A fire burned through the roof of a six-story apartment building in the Wilshire Center area of Los Angeles today, but firefighters prevented the flames from spreading to adjacent structures, and no one was hurt.

Firefighters sent to 614 S. St. Andrews Place at 8:37 a.m., extinguished the flames in 62 minutes, Brian Humphrey of the Los Angeles Fire Department said.

About 130 firefighters were assigned to the firefighting effort, Humphrey said. The cause of the fire was under investigation. A damage estimate was not immediately available.

All residents were evacuated safely, Humphrey said.

Firefighters cut holes in the roof to ventilate the building, and several plumes of smoke darkened the sky in the residential neighborhood. Traffic was kept away from the area.

The center hallway, brick building was built in the 1920s, and was later reinforced for earthquake safety standards, Humphrey said.