Flames engulfed a Boyle Heights pallet storage lot yesterday, creating a spectacle of smoke and fire that demanded a swift response from Los Angeles firefighters. According to the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD), the blaze started around 6:36 PM at 2900 E 12th Street, occupying firefighters with a "large outside fire" in "offensive mode" which threatened multiple vehicles and a concrete wall.

Firefighters from Station 17 and surrounding battalions arrived on scene and quickly strategized to tame the flames encroaching upon the environment, a storied community steeped in Los Angeles' industrial backbone; the crew's rapid deployment of hose lines managed to knock down the blaze within a brief window of time, a matter of 10 minutes. The LAFD reported a successful extinguishment that ensured "no exposures were affected and no injuries reported."

In the aftermath of the initial firefighting efforts, a new threat emerged in the form of off-gassing batteries discovered at the scene of the inferno. This discovery necessitated the expertise of LAFD Hazardous Materials specialists who were called upon to assess and manage the potentially dangerous situation. The LAFD has yet to determine what sparked the conflagration as the cause remains under a cloud of investigation.