At least 11 firefighters have been injured in a blast that happened while they were responding to a massive commercial building fire in downtown Los Angeles, Your Content is first to report.
Firefighters initially responded to a report of a fire at a one-story commercial building around 6:30pm, and there was “nothing unusual” until the explosion occurred after they entered the building.
The ‘explosion’ was in the Little Tokyo district of downtown Los Angeles, leading to multiple other buildings to catch fire.
The LAPD said an explosion on the 300 block of E. Boyd Street had caused a fire in several structures with approximately “10 firefighters down.” The fire department later said over 230 firefighters were responding to the blaze and medical personnel were treating the injured. In this video, filmed nearby, smoke can be seen billowing from the site of the fire.
The Los Angeles Fire Department immediately issued a major emergency “mayday” call, sending more than 200 others to the scene to contain the blaze that jumped to several neighboring buildings.
Developing now… Details to follow.