Deadly Blaze In Del Rey Broke Out In Home Previously Deemed Unsafe

LOS ANGELES, CA — One person died and another was injured when a Del Rey house that had been previously deemed unsafe by city officials caught fire Tuesday morning.

Firefighters responded to 4922 S. Sycamore Dr., near where Sepulveda Boulevard crosses Ballona Creek, at around 6:15 a.m. Firefighters battled flames in a one-story home that appeared to be vacant, the LAFD said.

It took 37 LAFD firefighters 41 minutes to extinguish the flames, with assistance from the Culver City Fire Department. After they put out the blaze, crews found two people inside the home: One was found dead and the other was transported to a local hospital in unknown condition, firefighters said.

The survivor was a woman in her 50s, firefighters said.

The house and some other structures in the area had been red-tagged by the city's Department of Building and Safety, according to City Councilwoman Traci Park.

"DBS just recently red-tagged these buildings," Park told KTLA 5. "But, again, the process of abating what has been an ongoing nuisance in this neighborhood has not been enough, or fast enough. So my team and I are going to be coordinating very closely with DBS, with the fire department, with the police department, and the City Attorney's Office to assess every long-term intervention and legal tool that we have available to us."

Neighbors told KTLA that people had been squatting in the house before the fire.