Greater-Alarm Fire Breaks Out At Church In University Park

UNIVERSITY PARK (CBSLA) – Dozens of firefighters spent hours battled a raging fire which sparked at an abandoned church in University Park Thursday morning.

The fire broke out before 6:20 a.m. in the 700 block of West Washington Boulevard. Los Angeles Fire Department crews arrived on scene to find heavy flames emanating from the two-story building.

The building was structurally comprised, forcing the 133 firefighters to take a defensive position from outside the church.

As of 9:15 a.m., the fire had still not been extinguished, and was still smoldering, according to LAFD. Crews were expected to remain on scene for several more hours.

There were no reported injuries.

The 19,811 square-foot building was built in 1923 and served a mortuary before being converted to a church, the fire department said. It is currently abandoned.

Inspectors with the L.A. Department of Building and Safety red-tagged the building as unsafe for human occupancy.

Drivers were advised to avoid the area of Washington Boulevard between Figueroa Street and Union Avenue all morning.

There was no immediate word on the cause of the fire or a financial estimate of the damage.