Radio traffic: Mayday at Los Angeles church fire

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A harrowing few minutes. Audio from the Mayday.

http://youtu.be/MzEtqZVWFZc

LAFD Press Release:

Firefighters Injured While Battling South L.A. Church Blaze

Tuesday, October 08, 2013 | Posted by LAFD

SOUTH LOS ANGELES - The Los Angeles Fire Department battled flames that ripped through a 19th century wooden church on Tuesday October 8th, 2013. A firefighter was trapped in the burning rubble when significant portions of the Crouch Memorial Church collapsed during a Major Emergency Structure Fire.

Firefighters were summoned at 9:27 AM to 1001 E 27th Street in South L.A. where they found a large two-story church with fire blowing out of the attic. Firefighters assumed an immediate aggressive attack with hose-lines inside the dark, hot interior and up to the second floor. Within fifteen minutes into the battle, a loud crash was heard outside as portions of the attic and second floor suddenly fell. A firefighter on the second story rode the floor down as it dropped to the first story. He was trapped in heavy burning debris and had to utilize his emergency air canister to breathe.

"I got fire all around me... I got fire all around me." - Chilling radio traffic from the trapped firefighter inside the inferno.

Several critical objectives were rapidly met by Battalion Chief Fligiel:

• Activate Emergency Traffic on the radio alerting firefighters to the current conditions.
• Determine the exact location of the trapped firefighter within the nearly 7,000 sq-ft structure.
• Deploy a RIC (Rapid Intervention Company) Team to extricate him.
• Ensure no others are unaccounted for by obtaining the location of each firefighter on scene.
• Safely transition from an offensive interior fight to a defensive exterior fight.

Then a sense of relief...

"We have the firefighter... we are taking him out the front door." - Radio transmission.

Shortly thereafter the trapped firefighter was carried down the church steps to safety.

Over 150 firefighters, under the command of Deputy Chief Mario Rueda, fully extinguished the flames in three hours and 45 minutes. Over the next several hours, firefighters carefully salvaged items from the sanctuary and supported the investigation.

LAFD Arson/Counter-Terrorism Section (ACTS) Investigators were soon on scene, and in accordance with protocol, activated the regional "House of Worship Arson Task Force", bringing specialists from the Los Angeles Police Department, Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), as well as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to join the LAFD investigation.

According to LAFD ACTS Captain Michael Rueda, the fire appears to be accidental in nature. A declaration of the specific cause must await completion of the investigation.

The historic church suffered grave damage and is considered a total monetary loss.

A total of three firefighters were evaluated for injuries: The trapped firefighter was immediately transported to a local hospital where remained overnight before being released. The second firefighter was involved in the rescue and accompanied his colleague to the hospital. He was briefly evaluated and did not require treatment. Hours into the battle, a third firefighter suffered a possible electric shock while on an Aerial Ladder Truck that was pouring water into the structure. He was transported to a local hospital where he was treated and released.

Dispatched Units: E14 E210 T10 RA10 E9 T9 RA9 E21 SQ21 EM11 BC11 BC1 E15 E221 T21 E215 T15 DC1 BC13 E46 E203 T3 EM18 E3 UR3 RA3 RA803 T5 E205 UR88 BC5 E17 RA814 RA21 RA15 EM13 EA2 AR1 E226 T26 E211 T11 E33 E11 EM9 RM2 RA46 RA246 E66 AR17 RT59 EA1 AR7 CM2 CM1 AR11 RA10 EM9 RA17 T33 E233 E11 T94 E294 E63 E98 SU2 BC13 EM13 AR17 T66 E266 E26 RA29

(Video) (Photos)

Submitted by Erik Scott, Spokesman

Los Angeles Fire Department