LAFD Saves Multiple Businesses in Woodland Hills Major Emergency Structure Fire

At ‪3:07AM, the LAFD responded to the 23000 block of Mulholland Drive in Woodland Hills for a reported structure fire. Firefighters arrived to find an approximately 50' x 500' strip mall with fire through the roof in one unit.
Firefighters commenced aggressive interior attack with hose lines to find the seat of the fire and additional firefighters laddered the roof and used chainsaws to cut holes for vertical ventilation above multiple units of varying heights.

The fire companies faced three main challenges at this fire:
1. A common, open attic aiding the flames in rapidly spreading horizontally above the businesses.
3. A light weight roof construction with smaller timber which burns quicker and can increase risk of a roof collapse (which occurred in one unit)
4. Facades on rooflines in front of the businesses be burning but the fire is not visible. The fire burns through the supporting structure and weakens them, causing them to fall in front of the businesses. This can cause serious injury to firefighters outside and also cut off hose lines for crews inside the structure.

Firefighters did an outstanding job confining the bulk of the flames to just two units and a portion of the attic of a third unit, saving the bulk of businesses.

Over 100 firefighters were able to fully extinguish the flames in one hour and 18 minutes without injury to firefighter or civilians. Due to the extensive size of this fire, per protocol, arson investigators were assigned and combed through debris, looked at burn patterns and spoke with witnesses. The official cause of the fire is 'Undetermined, not considered suspicious'.

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