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Firefighters battled a massive blaze this morning at a Hollywood two-story building that housed a Payless ShoeSource and other stores.
The building caught on fire at 7:09 a.m. on the 5400 block of Santa Monica Boulevard (at Western Avenue), according to KTLA. About 150 firefighters were called to the scene and the crews were able to knock it down by 9 a.m. There were huge flames going through the roof of the building which also had a dental office, a restaurant and other businesses, reported NBC Los Angeles. The billowing smoke could be seen at least 15 miles away.
Firefighters told NBC Los Angeles that the fire started in the electrical room of the attic and spread to the rest of the building. However, they will be investigating further on the cause of the fire. It's not clear if the businesses were open at the time the fire started, but there were no injuries reported. Santa Monica Boulevard was closed at Western Avenue while firefighters fought the blaze.
Here are some photos of the fire:
PHOTO: Fire burns through roof of 2-story commercial building in 5400 blk of Santa Monica Blvd in Hollywood pic.twitter.com/kU7PXVDz4o
— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) May 6, 2014
#BREAKING: A large fire is burning at a commercial building in Hollywood http://t.co/nrxl8gh4NN pic.twitter.com/cVvD79GWEG
— KTLA (@KTLA) May 6, 2014
Commercial structure fire in Hollywood, @LAFD pic.twitter.com/IcoN55zkrQ
— memo12 (@memo12) May 6, 2014
