Flames shot through the roof of a one-story commercial building in downtown Los Angeles on Thursday afternoon, sending firefighters into a defensive fight from outside as they worked to keep the blaze from spreading. Officials said no other structures were threatened.
According to ABC7, the fire was reported around 3:34 p.m. at 910 South Santa Fe Avenue. The building itself measured roughly 75 feet by 50 feet, per ABC7's reporting.
Crews Take Defensive Stance as Flames Punch Through Roof
Firefighters were seen taking a defensive approach, attacking the fire from outside the building rather than entering it, ABC7 reported. That tactic often signals concerns about a structure's stability once flames have broken through a roofline, as they did here.
KTLA also covered crews battling the blaze downtown, confirming that Los Angeles Fire Department crews were on scene fighting the fire Thursday.
Downtown Los Angeles has seen a string of intense commercial fires in recent years that have tested LAFD resources. In April 2024, 120 firefighters spent more than four hours extinguishing an intense blaze at a clothing-supply building on the 1400 block of South Main Street, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. That fire left the building a total loss, and LAFD Heavy Equipment was required afterward to tear apart the rubble and reach hot spots buried beneath the debris.
Pattern of Major Fires Downtown
More recently, a commercial building fire at 1225 South Hope Street near Pico Boulevard prompted a Major Emergency response on May 10, 2026, according to an industry analysis from RiskLogic. That fire drew roughly 124 LAFD firefighters in the initial response, with arson investigators, heavy equipment, an Urban Search and Rescue unit and the department's remote-controlled firefighting robot requested as the incident escalated.
Even further back, a July 2024 fire that began in an outside storage area spread to five buildings total, two of which were completely destroyed, according to KTLA's reporting on that incident. LAFD also deployed its firefighting robot during that response.
