LAFD - Structure - 12-24-10

LOS ANGELES (CBS) — Authorities say packrat conditions fueled a fire at a Boyle Heights home, which was so badly damaged that it had to be “red-tagged” as too dangerous to live in. The fire broke out late Thursday night in the 100 block of South Clarence Street and responding firefighters reported “heavy fire” on the first floor, Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey said. The blaze was extinguished less about a half hour later. Neighbors said they saw a woman running from the home just after the fire started. Two men who live in the home were treated at the scene for smoke inhalation, RMG News reported. They were not hospitalized. About two hours after the fire broke out, an investigator at the scene said the roof and at least one wall of the home were badly damaged. He requested a Building and Safety inspector to come out and “red tag” the home as uninhabitable, a Los Angeles Fire Department dispatcher said.

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