Fire Damages 2 Buildings in L.A.

Fire broke out in an abandoned commercial building south of downtown Los Angeles on Monday night and spread to an adjacent newspaper distribution facility owned by The Times, authorities said.

The blaze began in the building scheduled for demolition about 8 p.m. and was controlled about two hours later, Fire Department spokesman Greg Acevedo said.

Thirty engine companies and two helicopters fought flames that caused the north wall of the three story commercial building in the 1000 block of East 6th Street to collapse and crash through the roof of The Times’ Center 8 distribution center, Times Security Officer Michelle Horeczko said.

“When the wall went down, flames gushed out and came through from next door. It burned like hell,” said Don Buckland, a Times security supervisor.

Horeczko said that the distribution building is used from early morning hours until dusk and that no employees were at the site when the fire broke out. There were no injuries.

Fire investigators had not determined the origin of the blaze.