Fire at boarded-up church threatens North Hills apartments; residents evacuated

It took nearly two hours for firefighters to extinguish a massive fire that destroyed a boarded-up church in North Hills on Tuesday night, temporarily forcing residents in the apartment building next door to evacuate.

The blaze was reported at around 5:45 p.m. in the 15000 block of W. Parthenia Street, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. 

They said that the two-story commercial building, which is believed to be vacant and the former spot of a church, was showing heavy fire when they arrived. The flames were threatening the four-story apartments, prompting crews to work through each floor to evacuate residents. 

Crews were in defensive mode on the commercial building, meaning that they were battling the flames from above and outside due to the possible danger posed by the structural integrity. 

They determined the incident a Major Emergency as their battle continued. Department officials said that more than 100 firefighters were assigned to the blaze.

At around 7:20 p.m., an updated LAFD release said that crews were "more effectively able to reach the deep seated fire," and were making good progress on extinguishing the flames. They said that the fire was finally extinguished at around 7:40 p.m., nearly two hours after their firefight began.

They said that some windows of the apartment building were broken and that they were still assessing the damage to the part of the structure that was exposed to the fire. 

One person, a 42-year-old woman, was treated at the scene for possible smoke inhalation before she was taken to the hospital in fair condition, firefighters said. The cause of the fire remains under investigation by LAFD Arson investigators.

With SkyCal over the spot of the fire, massive plumes of black smoke could be seen extending into the sky. Flames could be reaching from the right side of the structure in the alleyway next to the apartment building while dozens of people looked on. 

The Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety has ben called to assess the building's structural safety. If it is red-tagged, they said that LAFD Heavy Equipment operators will evaluate the building for possible demolition.