Owner injured after fire destroys Lincoln Heights movie studio

Fire destroys Lincoln Heights movie studio, owner injured

Shawn Anthony Sequeira is the owner of SAS Movie Studio. He was in a coma for several days after a fire destroyed his studio. Now he's away and expects a child with his wife in the coming days.

LOS ANGELES - The owner of a Lincoln Heights movie studio remains in the hospital this weekend after a fire destroyed the building earlier this week.

Shawn Anthony Sequeira is the owner of SAS Movie Studio in Lincoln Heights. On March 22, Sequeira was at the building along with a group of children, rehearsing for a Los Angeles Fashion Week event this weekend, when he noticed the flames. Sequeira acted quickly to get the children out safely.

"I did everything in my power to put the fire out with the fire extinguishers," he said. "But there was just too many flames, it just engulfed me." Then, Sequeira said, a beam from the building fell on him, knocking him out.

Firefighters said the fire was an electrical fire, which Sequeira said was caused by faulty wiring in the building. Sequeira was in a coma for several days while his pregnant wife Olga Amraie sat by his bedside.

"My heart's completely broken because I lost the studio, but I'm alive and that's all that matters," Sequeira said.

The studio was supposed to host the LA Fashion Show starting Friday night. The three-day event has been postponed.

Now Sequeira and Amraie are expecting a child together on Sunday. Sequeira said that while he was unconscious in the building, he prayed.

"I just prayed to God. ‘Get me out of here,'" Sequeira said. "'I've got a mission to do, and it's your job to save me.' And I just woke up instantly."

Sequeira told FOX 11 that the owner of the building will cover the damages as well as the cost of the destroyed equipment. Still the group has set up a GoFundMe campaign to help with the recovery process.