Seventeen cats have been killed in a massive hearth that broke out early Saturday morning at a strip mall in Palms with a boarding resort for pets, in response to the Los Angeles Fireplace Division.
A firefighter who “took sick in the course of the intense firefight” was taken to the hospital “in truthful situation for statement,” the Fireplace Division mentioned in a information launch. No civilian accidents have been reported.
Greater than 120 firefighters responded to a 911 name made by a passerby at 5:44 a.m. who noticed smoke on the strip mall situated at 9000 W. Venice Blvd. Firefighters took 73 minutes to include and extinguish the blaze. A enterprise named Cat Place LA is situated within the strip mall, situated close to the border of Culver Metropolis.
Nineteen cats have been rescued from the scene, mentioned division spokesperson Brian Humphrey, however solely two survived.
“Seventeen sadly proved past medical assist,” Humphrey mentioned. “Two of them have been viable and might be resuscitated. They have been offered medical assist from firefighters till the enterprise proprietor arrived” and introduced the cats in for emergency veterinary care.
Fireplace Division personnel have been nonetheless on the scene Saturday morning speaking to enterprise house owners and searching by the particles to find out why the hearth began. Its trigger is below “energetic investigation.”
The hospitalized firefighter is present process a medical evaluation on the hospital, however stays in truthful situation, Humphrey mentioned.
“He turned acutely sick, and we’re very delicate to our members within the subject of battle so we made positive out of an abundance of warning that he was taken to a hospital for additional analysis,” he mentioned. “It was a fierce firefight.”
The “main emergency construction hearth” affected 5 companies within the one-story strip mall, in response to the discharge. Firefighters remained on the scene after the hearth was contained to speak with cat house owners who have been searching for their pets, Humphrey mentioned. A few of the house owners are out of city.
“It was a really emotional scene this morning, to say the least,” Humphrey added.
“Cat Place LA is a luxurious cage-free resort completely for cats,” the enterprise’ web site says. “The one you love cat deserves the perfect therapy if you are out of city.”
Visitors congestion across the space is predicted for an unknown time frame as work continues on the web site.
“Journey on Venice Boulevard between Robertson Boulevard and Culver Boulevard can be restricted to just one westbound lane this afternoon, as firefighters and investigators proceed to work the scene of a significant emergency construction hearth that was extinguished this morning within the Palms space close to the Culver Metropolis limits,” a Fireplace Division visitors alert mentioned.
