LOS ANGELES (AP) - Fire engulfed a commercial building in Hollywood Tuesday morning, sending up a huge column of smoke and gutting the structure but causing no injuries, authorities said.
The fire began shortly after 7 a.m. in the electrical room and attic of a two-story building on Santa Monica Boulevard that housed a shoe store, a restaurant and other small shops and businesses.
Flames leapt through the roof and burned so fiercely that firefighters retreated from inside and from the roof to fight the blaze with hoses from ladder trucks.
An estimated 150 firefighters doused the fire in about 90 minutes.
Deputy Chief Joseph Castro told City News Service that the businesses were closed and nobody was in the pre-1933 building when the fire began.
No injuries were reported.
The building appeared to be “a total loss,” Castro said.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
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