The old Greyhound terminal in Downtown Los Angeles turns into a Major Emergency commercial fire taking almost two hours to extinguish

At 6:34PM on Wednesday, August 30, 2017, the Los Angeles Fire Department responded to a reported structure fire at 630 S Los Angeles St.  The poured-in-place concrete building, originally built in 1966, is the old Greyhound terminal.   The 366,824 sq ft structure now comprises a row of commercial units with parking on the second floor.  Firefighters arrived to find heavy smoke pouring from multiple units on the 1st floor.  

Due to the number of units affected and the extensive forcible entry required to gain access, additional units were requested, increasing the incident to a Greater Alarm status.  As firefighters made entry into the units, they encountered heavy smoke but no visible fire.  Each unit necessitated a separate fire attack due to the building construction and many were filled with baled goods, creating an additional challenge to locating the seat of the fire.  

The stubborn nature and scope of the fire demanded significant resources to defend the remaining units (close to 20 total) while hunting down the seat of the fire, consquently additional fire companies were requested and the incident became a Major Emergency.

After one hour and 48 minutes, 124 firefighters under the command of Assistant Chief Timothy Ernst, achieved a knockdown on the fire with no injuries reported.  A total of nine units were affected; 5 with fire damage and 4 with smoke damage only.  An extensive overhaul of all units continued into the night.  

The incident is under active investigation and total dollar loss is still being tabulated.

Units Dispatched: E9  T9  E209  RA9  E4  E210  T10  RA10  SQ21  BC1  BC11  RA809  E10  E203  T3  CM22  E202  T2  EM1  BC13  E3  UR3  HR3  RA803  UR88  BC5  RA209  RA11  EM15  EM17  EA1  E211  T11  E15  E29  E11  E201  T1  E215  T15  E33  E227  T27  HU59  CM51  E226  T26  RA4  AR1  PH1  AR12  RA820  PI2  T5  E205  E44