(NewsGlobal.com)- At least two people were injured last week when a suspected arson fire broke out in a nearly 100-year-old apartment building in South Los Angeles in the early hours of last Saturday.
All 24 units were evacuated, forcing 100 residents from their homes, including families, the elderly, and people with disabilities, CBS News reported. Four adjacent buildings were also evacuation as over 100 firefighters battled the blaze.
Fox News had reported early Saturday morning that local news reports said the LAPD initially responded to the apartment building before the fire erupted following a disturbance call. When officers arrived at the scene, the suspect inside refused to follow their instructions and started setting things on fire and throwing them at officers.
Once the fire started, the suspect jumped from an apartment balcony and was arrested.
Despite dousing the building with water for five hours, the structure continued to burn, forcing officials fearing its collapse to call for bulldozers to take down the structure.
Los Angeles Fire Department Captain Erik Scott said he expected the building to be red-tagged. He said the fire, which started in the basement, quickly spread through the walls into the attack.
One resident told CBS News that the smoke was so thick that it was impossible to see anything.
One of the injured suffered severe smoke inhalation while the other declined to go to the hospital.
For the displaced residents, the American Red Cross offered hotel rooms for the weekend. But CBS News reported that some residents are concerned about the long-term and how they will recover from the devastating loss of the fire.
One resident told CBS News that she lost everything she had “out of nowhere.”
