A mattress warehouse was gutted by a two-alarm fire in Paramount early Thursday, reduced to a tangle of melted steel beams, burned vehicles and smoldering debris.
Firefighters arrived to find a single story commercial building alight after responding to the blaze at the 7300 block of East Madison Street at around 12:30 a.m, Los Angeles County Fire Department said.
Within 10 minutes the fire was upgraded to a two-alarm incident and the emergency service personel went into defensive mode. The roof of the 10,000-square-foot building eventually collapsed, but no one was inside at the time.
"If we were in there and those collapsed, we could have been seriously injured or killed," LA County Fire Capt. Brian Jordan said.
The fire was eventually knocked down at 1:34 a.m, with 75 firefighters involved in battling the blaze. No injuries were reported.
Warehouse employees learned of the fire when they arrived to work, watching as arson investigators tried to determine how the fire started.
Electricty was cut to nearby businesses as well.
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"It can run into a thousand, two-thousand dollars for the day or two we're going to be down," said Mike Walter, owner of neighboring Griffin's Machine Shop
It is unclear exacty when the blaze started, as the mattresses inside could have been smoldering for some time. While the fumes from the burning materials inside could have been harmful, it is believed no one has been affected.
"They are mattresses, and mattresses are made out of all sorts of different materials and when they do burn they put off toxic fumes. (But) The smoke I saw had gone up and away and I don't believe it affected anyone downwind," Jordan said.
AC Mattress Manufacturing, a family business, was the site of the blaze.
