Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
8 firefighters still hospitalized after LA blast
LOS ANGELES — Eight firefighters remained hospitalized Sunday after being hurt in an explosion at a hash oil manufacturer in downtown Los Angeles that sent crews running for their lives when a ball of flames shot out of the building and scorched a fire truck across the street.
The blast Saturday night injured a dozen firefighters.
Some firefighters ran out onto sidewalks, where they tore off their burning protective equipment including melted helmets, officials said.
“The was one of the worst scenes I’ve seen,” said Los Angeles Fire Department Capt. Erik Scott.
He said “one significant explosion” shook the neighborhood around 6:30 p.m. Firefighters inside had to run through a wall of flames he estimated as 30 feet high and wide, and those on the roof scrambled down a ladder engulfed in fire.
Three firefighters were released after spending the night in the hospital, fire department spokesman Nicholas Prange said Sunday. Of the eight who remained hospitalized, two were in critical but stable condition, he said.
“The good news is everybody’s going to make it,” Mayor Eric Garcetti said at a news conference late Saturday outside the Los Angeles County-University of Southern California Medical Center where all the injured were treated.
“Things could have been so much worse,” said Los Angeles Fire Department Medical Director Dr. Marc Eckstein, who works at the hospital and helped treat the injured.
Scott said people at the scene described the explosion as sounding like a freight train or jet engine.
Firefighters were called to the city’s Toy District for a report of a fire at a one-story commercial building. The cause of the fire is under criminal investigation.