Fire damages strip mall in Woodland Hills, causes roof collapse

WOODLAND HILLS, Calif. - The call came in around 3 a.m. Friday morning. 

Firefighters arrived to find flames shooting out from the roof of a dry cleaning business at this Woodland Hills shopping center just off Mulholland Drive.

More than 100 firefighters from LA City and the county jumped into action with hoses and ladders.
 
 “We were able to attack the fire from the roof by cutting off that fire and cutting holes in the roof and from the interior side by putting hose lines on each side of the business and try to pinch that fire and keep it contained,” said LA City Fire Deputy Chief Trevor Richmond.
 
The fire proved challenging due to the lightweight roof and the common attic. Part of the roof collapsed at the dry cleaners.

Also damaged, Nancy’s Alterations next door. Owner John Shin was waiting to learn the extent of that damage. But fortunately, his customer Brian Mcgilvray was able to retrieve his clothes for a family funeral. 
 
“Everything looks ok. When we saw it on the news we were already thinking where are we going to get clothes done this morning,” said McGilvray. 
 
More than an hour into the tense firefight as crews were gaining an upper hand, a hot spot erupted next door at a pet food business. Fire crews on the offensive once again trying to extinguish the embers on the roof.

“It did climb the walls and start to go into that pet feeding store and so we have firefighters that were able to cut a hole in there put up their ladder and extinguish it to minimize damage,” said LA City Fire Capt. Erik Scott. 
 
Inside the store, crews covered the pet food to try to protect it.

Finally, nearly three hours later, crews appeared to get the stubborn blaze under control.

Fazio Cleaners released the following statement after the blaze:

"Fazio Cleaners has been in business for 72 years, and we have a comprehensive safety program that includes regular inspections and rigorous protocols to promote safety.  We appreciate the support of our neighbors and the community as we manage through this incident. While we are still assessing the loss of items, customers who would like to file a claim should contact our Calabasas store located a mile from our Woodland Hills location. The address is 4732 Commons Way, Calabasas."

No injuries were reported and the cause of the fire was under investigation.