Ozzy Osbourne’s daughter escapes deadly studio fire
Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne’s daughter Aimee was among those who escaped a Hollywood recording studio fire that killed a 26-year-old music producer, Sharon Osbourne and others who work in the space said.
Aimee’s producer also escaped the blaze that began late Friday afternoon in the two-storey commercial building that houses music-making spaces.
It took 78 firefighters more than 50 minutes to extinguish the flames, Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Erik Scott said.
“Sadly, one person was found dead inside, as firefighters searched the structure,” Scott said, adding the cause of the fire was under investigation.
Friends identified the person killed as Nathan Avery Edwards, who recorded, produced and mixed music under the name Avery Drift.
Aimee, 38, and a producer she was working with were “the lucky two that made it out alive”, Sharon Osbourne said on Instagram.
“Our prayers go out to the family and friends of the person that lost their life to this senseless fire.”
Aimee is a singer who releases electronic pop music under the name ARO, her initials.
Record label owner Jamal Rajad Davis lives and works in the building with his wife and four cats.
He thought his wife was burning incense when he began to see and smell smoke. He said he and others emerged into the hallway and it became clear that smoke was coming from a unit a few doors down. A man had locked himself out and began trying to break the door open as Davis and others shouted for him to stop.
He got it open and it was, “Boom! Big old flames!” Davis told the Associated Press.
At that point Davis began to yell to Osbourne and others to get out as he ran back to his space.
“I grabbed everything big, my 65-inch TV, my PlayStation interface in my studio, my internet box.”
He dropped the stuff outside and tried to run back in to get his cats, but it was too late.
“I was already choking. So I took my shirt off, tied it around my face, and I tried to get a little bit further. I made about five or six steps and I couldn’t make it to my kitties.”