Community Corner
Fire Damages a Pet Store on Vermont Avenue [Updated]
The fire was extinguished in less than an hour.
Fire burned through the roof of a pet store in East Hollywood today, killing birds, mice, guinea pigs and fish, but firefighters rescued about 100 animals.
There was no sprinkler system at Kim's Pets & Fish and firefighters needed nearly an hour to put out the blaze at the strip mall at Vermont and Lexington avenues that also damaged The Grilling Station restaurant, Brian Humphrey of the Los Angeles Fire Department said.
The fire was reported at 6:07 a.m. and firefighters reported intense flames upon arrival, Humphrey said.
Investigators determined tonight that the fire was "accidental and originated in the attic,'' Humphrey said, adding that investigators were continuing looking into the exact cause, declining to specify it might have been electrical in nature.
Humphrey did not specify the number of animals that died, but said most were small birds.
"Birds don't do fires well,'' Humphrey said, adding that birds have delicate respiratory systems.
The rescued animals included some fish, rabbits, mice and frogs and about 25 puppies, Humphrey said.
The heat cracked some aquariums, with their water and fish spilling onto the floor. Firefighters crawled on their stomachs to rescue turtles in aquariums because if they had applied foam to extinguish the blaze before the animals were rescued, they would have died from the foam, Humphrey said.
A damage estimate was being made, but a dollar figure was not available.
- City News Service
