One person was killed and a firefighter was seriously injured in a Los Angeles house fire on Saturday evening.
The L.A. City Fire Department said crews responded to reports of a structure fire in the Hyde Park neighborhood at 6:55 p.m.
Once at the scene, firefighters encountered heavy fire in two rooms of a one-story, single-family dwelling in the 7000 block of S 4th Avenue.
“Crews got reports of a person possibly trapped inside and made an aggressive interior fire attack while conducting a thorough search of the home,” LAFD said in a statement.
Firefighters found a man, estimated to be about 50 years old, unconscious with significant burn injuries.
LAFD said crews and paramedics began life-saving procedures while transporting the gravely injured patient to the trauma center.
“Unfortunately, despite their best efforts and the work of the staff at the emergency room, the patient did not survive,” said the department.
It was not immediately known whether the victim had tried to evacuate, and officials had not released his identity as of Sunday afternoon.
LAFD said it took about 22 minutes and 42 firefighters to knock down the fire.
“A 33-year-old, male LAFD firefighter also sustained serious but non-life threatening injuries and was transported to the hospital,” added fire officials.
The injured firefighter’s status was not included in the fire department’s initial release.
The department said that per protocol, the LAFD Arson and Counter-Terrorism Section responded and is conducting an active investigation into the cause of the fire.
