A dramatic fire involving solar panels erupted Wednesday afternoon on a commercial building in Los Angeles, sending a massive black column of smoke into the air above the scene.
The inferno began shortly before 2:30 p.m. at a cold storage facility the Boyle Heights area of the city, east of Downtown Los Angeles.
Los Angeles Fire Department firefighters were initially in offensive mode and for a time seemed to have gotten the upper hand on the flames. The fire later flared up in a major way, however, sending the firefighters into defensive mode.
“All units were called off the roof and out of the interior,” the LAFD said in a statement. A shelter-in-place order was issued for the immediate area surrounding the building.
The Los Angeles Police Department has reportedly gone on tactical alert due to this fire.
No injuries have been reported.
The cause of the fire was under investigation.
