North Hills fire: Blaze at vacant building threatens nearby apartment complex, forces evacuations

NORTH HILLS, LOS ANGELES () — More than 100 Los Angeles firefighters battled a large fire at a vacant two-story building that forced residents in a neighboring apartment complex to evacuate.

The fire was reported around 5:43 p.m. Tuesday in the 15200 block of Parthenia Street in North Hills, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. It took crews just under two hours to report a knockdown.

Most people who live in the nearby complex have been allowed to return to their homes. Three units have been yellow-tagged, meaning tenants can access their belongings but they can’t stay there.

A total of 27 people – six adults and 21 children – are temporarily displaced.

Huge plumes of smoke billowed from the vacant building as crews battled the blaze from a defensive position. While firefighters worked to contain the flames, they also evacuated residents in the neighboring four-story apartment complex.

The thick smoke was enough to trigger the apartment building’s fire alarms.

“I was waking everybody up, like, ‘We gotta get out of here,'” Gysselle Ramirez said.

Edward Viramontes said flames covered the outside of his window and even caused a crack in the glass.

“I just grabbed all my kids, threw over the stroller, and I just ran out the house,” he said.

Viramontes thinks he saw that fire as it sparked.

Two hours earlier, Viramontes says he snapped a picture out his window looking toward the abandoned building. He said the photo shows a woman hunched over something. Then, he says, there were sparks.

He said he saw the person jump over the fence as the fire erupted. He shared the photo he captured with arson investigators.

A 42-year-old woman in the apartment building was taken to a hospital in fair condition to be treated for possible smoke inhalation, according to LAFD.

Another woman suffered a panic attack at the scene.

The fire caused some broken windows in the apartment complex. Firefighters checked the apartment building for any further damage.

Firefighters remained at the scene throughout the night to extinguish any hot spots left.

LAFD arson investigators are looking into the cause of the blaze.