Two people were hospitalized after an explosion in downtown Los Angeles.
Flames and smoke shot out the basement windows of a 19-story building located at 811 W. Wilshire Blvd. in Los Angeles this past Thursday. Calls reporting the explosion were received by the emergency service at just after 10 p.m.
The Los Angeles Fire Department was dispatched to aid in controlling the flames.
Four people were injured in the blast, but only two opted to be transported to a nearby hospital.
*UPDATE: 811 W Wilshire Bl* 1 F headache + 1 M back pain, both to hosp; 1 unk walked away, 1 unk declined offered care >>>
— LAFD (@LAFD) August 21, 2015
Approximately 12 buildings in the area lost power following the explosion in the Wilshire building.
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power found that an onsite power station had been significantly damaged in the explosion. They worked throughout Thursday night in an attempt to restore power to the buildings surrounding the structure affected by the blast.
Among the structures that were affected by the outage was the Los Angeles Staples Center where Shania Twain was in the middle of performing a concert. Officials were able to return power to the Staples Center quickly.
As of Friday afternoon, power was restored to all the buildings except the Wilshire .
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power is attempting to provide temporary power to the building, but it won’t be a long-term solution. It may be a while before more permanent repairs can be made.
In the meantime, the Los Angeles Fire Department is investigating the cause of the explosion.
*UPDATE: 811 W Wilshire Bl* Though a bldg generator was *believed* to be involved, the cause remains under formal investigation; NFD ^BH
— LAFD (@LAFD) August 21, 2015
According to the evidence, the main theory is currently that the blast was caused by a large generator in the basement of the Wilshire building. Why the generator malfunctioned, however, is still a mystery.
For the time being, the building has been red-tagged by the Los Angeles Department of Building & Safety. That means that authorities believe there has been significant structural damage and no one will be allowed to enter until electrical services and fire safety systems are completely up and running again.
LA Downtown News gave some insight into the building that was affected .
“The building is owned by Jamison Services Inc. The landlord, led by Dr. David Lee, owns dozens of properties in Los Angeles.”
“Among the entities housed in the building is the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority. LAHSA officials this morning said that its servers were unaffected by the explosion and fire, and that its Homeless Management and Information System is functional. All LAHSA meetings today have been canceled.”
[ Image courtesy of The Location Portal ]
