Dozens of Los Angeles city firefighters battled a great alarm structure fire at Urth Caffé in downtown's Arts District Friday morning, putting it out just after 8 a.m. Almost 100 firefighters were on the scene and also worked to defend two attached businesses, LAFD officials said.
The fire started in the kitchen at roughly 6:45 a.m., according to LAFD spokeswoman Margeret Stewart, though an Urth Caffé spokeswoman later said it actually started in the coffee roasting department. Flames quickly reached the attic of the popular coffee bar and eatery, located at 459 S. Hewitt St. Video on social media shows smoke filling the air of the neighborhood as sirens ring out in the street.
Yes, sadly #LAFD is battling a difficult attic fire at the popular @UrthCaffe Follow the incident at https://t.co/6XWhFnKw8e https://t.co/wuDlevzibl
— #LAFD Talk (@LAFDtalk) December 28, 2018
Fresh #LAFD Firefighters heading to the roof of @UrthCaffe to join the fight #greateralarm #structurefire @LAFDcentral 📷 Cody Weireter’s pic.twitter.com/hNeImqZrVH
— #LAFD Talk (@LAFDtalk) December 28, 2018
About an hour and a half later, the blaze was knocked down, officials said. No injuries have been reported and the cause of the fire is under investigation. Shallom Berkman, Urth Caffé's owner, later said he was "hopeful we can open the café this upcoming week."
UPDATE:
8:40 a.m., Dec. 31: This article was updated with information from an Urth Caffe press release.
This article was originally published at 7:45 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 28.
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