Fire breaks out near Midvale and Ophir
By Will Weiss
Jan. 8, 2010 6:58 a.m.
A fire broke out in an apartment in the large brick building on the corner of Midvale Avenue and Ophir Drive early this morning.
The home of Maya Grushamsky was engulfed in flames shortly after 7 a.m. when what she said was a small electrical fire in unit’s living room began to spread.
Residents of the Village House apartment building said their morning activities were interrupted by sounds of shouting and alarms, followed by their discovery of smoke billowing through windows and under doors from apartment 304, the source of the blaze.
Firefighters from the Los Angeles Fire Department received a call at 7:17 a.m. reporting that a single unit in the building, which houses both students and non-students and is located at 11044 Ophir Dr., was on fire, said LAFD Captain Paramedic Paul Gamez.
“When our first responders arrived, smoke and flames were pouring out of the windows. We’ve gone in and done a search and nobody is in there,” he said, adding that Grushamsky, who apparently lives alone in apartment 304, was able to escape out a side door on the west side of the building.
Information about the cause of the fire has not yet been determined, Gamez said.
Firefighters spoke to a group of residents outside the building at 8:22 a.m. shortly after the fire had been put out, explaining that, though damage seemed to be limited to unit 304, it is not uncommon for apartments directly above, below or adjacent to the involved unit to see damage from smoke, fire or water.
Though they had not yet been allowed back inside the building to examine their homes, other residents said that the shocking event was frightening enough.
“We were awake, and I thought I heard a bell,” said Shawn Mendel, a resident of the apartment directly above unit 304. “Because we all live and work around office buildings, you’re almost trained to ignore it, thinking that it’s just another drill. But luckily my wife has a very sensitive nose and she smelled smoke, so we grabbed our wallets and got out of there.”
Mendel and his wife Ashley both said they were frightened by the ordeal, but were not anxious to return to their apartment to assess damages.
“We’re on the very top floor, so we’re fine,” said Shawn Mendel.
William Waldner of apartment 306, immediately adjacent to the fire’s source, said he was alerted even before the fire alarm sounded by shouts from the street.
“I was just reading the paper. I heard guys yelling and I went to the window to see what all of the commotion was about,” said Waldner. “I heard passersby saying, ‘What address is this? Call 911.’ So I got the family up and came outside.”
