A firefighter was injured battling a massive blaze that engulfed a 10,000-square-foot warehouse in Montebello Thursday morning.
Crews initially responded to a “miscellaneous” outdoor fire reported around 1 a.m. in the 800 block of Truck Way near West Olympic Boulevard, Montebello Fire Department spokesperson Alex Gillman said.
Upon arrival, firefighters found a 10,000-square-foot warehouse on fire raising questions about exactly where the blaze started.
“We are not aware of the ignition point. If it started on the outside or the interior of the structure at this time. But we did upgrade it to a structure fire and from there … we did upgrade to a second alarm fire, and followed that by a third alarm fire,” Gillman said.
Video from an overhead drone showed the size of the blaze, which drew about 80 firefighters to the scene.
One firefighter was injured battling the massive blaze, which forced crews to take a defensive posture.
The unidentified firefighter was expected to be OK.
It was unclear what type of business was inside the warehouse or what materials were burning in the fire.
“We have not begun our investigation in the interior yet out of precaution and safety for our firefighters,” Gillman said.
There was a roof collapse at one point but the fire was declared a knockdown as of 7 a.m., Gillman said.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
