Firefighters rescued two people from a burning Los Angeles apartment building Friday morning, helping one of the victims out of a second-floor window and pulling out another person who was later hospitalized in critical condition.
The critically injured person was rescued from the basement of the building at 427 South Gramercy Place, while the other rescued victim and two other individuals were all assessed by paramedics for possible injuries such as smoke inhalation, the Los Angeles Fire Department said. It took firefighters 30 minutes to extinguish the fire, which LAFD first reported in an alert at 8:39 a.m.
Firefighters discovered multiple lithium-ion batteries on scooters in the basement, according to LAFD. The highly flammable, potentially explosive batteries have been linked to recent fires closing roads And highways in Southern California.
They have been blamed more than 170 fires in New York City this year, authorities said, some resulting in deaths such as an apartment fire killed a 69-year-old man last month. Last year, 14 people in the city died in fires linked to lithium-ion batteries.
