Man critically injured in apartment fire in Chinatown

A man is in critical condition following an apartment fire in Chinatown early Friday morning.

Firefighters responded to 877 N Bunker Hill Ave. around 3:45 a.m.

“On arrival, they found a well-involved apartment fire that's under construction.  So they quickly went defensive on this fire, called for additional resources, and then this fire spread into some adjacent buildings,” Fire Captain Adam VanGerpen told KNX News’ Craig Fiegener. “So we have a total of three other buildings that have some smoke and fire damage. There was extensive damage and a fire spread into the adjacent apartment.”

It took over 130 firefighters to extinguish the fire in an hour and 36 minutes, according to the fire department . A knockdown was declared around 5:33 a.m.

The man taken to the hospital was 90 years old, according to LAFD spokesperson Margaret Stewart . A 55-year-old woman was hospitalized with a non-life-threatening burn injury, Two people were assessed and declined to go to the hospital.

Want to get caught up on what's happening in SoCal every weekday afternoon? Click to follow The L.A. Local wherever you get podcasts.

One firefighter with a non-life-threatening extremity injury was taken to an occupational health facility while another one with probable heat exhaustion was treated on the scene.

Seventy people were affected by the fire. Stewart added that the Red Cross will assist.

Katie, who lives across the street from the building, told KNX News Craig Fiegener the construction site had been abandoned for two years.

“We knew this was going to happen,” she said. “We've been telling the city for weeks, for months, for years now that this was going to happen and now our neighbors have lost their homes and our neighbors are in the hospital.”

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Follow KNX News 97.1 FM
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | TikTok