Fire Engulfs Westside Auto Body Shop

LOS ANGELES, CA — Firefighters extinguished a blaze in an auto body shop near the San Diego (405) Freeway in West Los Angeles in 40 minutes this morning.

Firefighters responded about 1:35 a.m. to the 2100 block of South Sepulveda Boulevard and located a 50-foot-by-50-foot building with fire showing, according to Margaret Stewart of the Los Angeles Fire Department.

"The companies that got on scene had their hands full," Battalion Chief Mark Curry told NBC4. "They had exposures on the north, south and east sides and the east side exposure was a four-story apartment house."

The incident was declared a major emergency incident and 115 firefighters contained the fire to the shop, Stewart said. A knockdown was declared at 2:15 a.m.

"Our point of origin is one of the cars that was under repair caught fire," Curry said. "We know where it started, we don't know why exactly."

One firefighter suffered a minor hand injury.

City News Service; Photo: Shutterstock