Some 134 firefighters extinguished a “major emergency” fire Sunday morning at a single-story commercial structure in Hollywood, authorities said. No injuries were reported.
The blaze broke out shortly before 9 a.m. in the 1000 block of North Orange Drive (map), about two blocks south of Santa Monica Boulevard, and was knocked down just over two hours later, said Katherine Main, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Fire Department.
The burning building housed the Highland Plating Co., according to the business’s website.
After a section of the roof collapsed, firefighters transitioned to a defensive operation before making progress against the “stubborn” flames, Main said.
A hazmat team was monitoring water runoff and diking storm drains, she said. The runoff was deemed to be “neutral.”
The fire generated a plume of thick black smoke that was visible for miles. Viewers in Beverly Hills, West Hollywood and on the 10 Freeway tweeted images of the cloud as it rose high into the air.
“We can smell the chemicals in that fire all the way up in the Hollywood Hills, near Los Feliz,” said one witness on Twitter.
The metal-finishing company employed 110 employees at the 33,000-square foot plant on Orange Drive, and was “one of the nation’s largest anodizing and plating facilities,” its website said.
The cause of the incident was not immediately known.
