Posted on 12/08/2014 12:53:08 PM PST by goldstategop
A huge fire has destroyed an apartment building under construction in central Los Angeles, shutting two major cross-city freeways.
More than 250 firefighters tackled the overnight blaze in the downtown area, which was brought under control early on Monday.
There were no reports of injuries, and it is not thought anyone was in the seven-storey building at the time. A huge blaze in downtown Los Angeles There were no reports of any injuries or deaths
The fire could be seen from miles away, but no cause has been identified.
"It's a large building, about a block long. The whole building is a total loss. The fire did spread into two neighbouring buildings," said fire department spokesman David Ortiz.
Sections on the 110 and 101 freeways remained closed on Monday morning.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
Downtown freeways 110 and 101 were shut down this morning.
I wont count out arson just yet.
the accelerant sniffing dogs should know soon enough.
The Fire Dept is already calling this a “Criminal Fire” Wanna bet these were the Occupy Commie Crowd that did this
Its clear that global warming induced drought has caused this....
I blame Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow.
Why is this from the BBC? LAT too busy covering protests?
2 possibilities
1) accident
2) the builders bled the construction loan dry, and burned it down. In 2014, one can destroy a property without a trace, or cause.
People hated the developer of the Da Vinci apartments. I wonder if something went on there.
Anybody know if the 110 north is open.
Leaving work in one minute.
“HANDS UP! CAN’T BREATHE!”
Bush’s fault.
I’m way up north...20 miles north of San Francisco.
this is going to be something to “watch”
Who cares...They collect insurance, a win win..
As if LA needs another building, a gaudy condo monstrosity, more traffic or strip mall for more taxes for the corrupt running LA and on and on...
Leave it bare gets my vote.
The Ferguson protest crowd are suspects...
thanks
Apparently, that fire at the Da Vinci Complex wasn’t the only one keeping the LAFD quite busy this morning.....
“A series of major fires raged for hours in downtown Los Angeles and the nearby Westlake area early Monday, destroying a huge apartment complex that was under construction, bringing more than 250 firefighters to the scene, and shutting down the 101 and 110 freeways, according to Los Angeles Fire Department officials.
No one was believed to be in three of the downtown L.A. buildings that were damaged.
Officials were unsure if anyone was inside the Westlake building that was under renovation when fire broke out. One person in the area was treated for smoke inhalation, but was not transported to a hospital.”
http://ktla.com/2014/12/08/large-building-burns-in-downtown-la/
Arson in a new building is a real possibility. How was the project funded?
Often times, especially in private ventures (small LCCs with investors), commercial loans and funding is contracted well before construciton starts. The goal is to lease space and book the revenue before construction is complete. In this way, there is often an early indicator of the money that is going to be lost if leasing is not going well or if costs are out of control. The best time to recover the total value of the investment (or the last time) is before the fire sprinkler system is functional. A Builder’s Risk insurance policy usually covers the up to the value of the contract. (Not necessarily the land).
If you want out of a deal that is a forecasted loser, this is your best hope to cut losses. Otherwise, per the contract language of the mortgage, investors have to maintain a debt/equity ratio in an account that is autditable by the lender. This means, you, as an investor could be shoveling money into an account to keep up with losses for some time.
I’m not saying or accusing of arson here. But I would not be surprised. It has happened before. And it can be hard to investigate, especially depending on what stage of construction they are in.
Well, I’m coming through in about 25 minutes. I’ll check in later to say if they let me through.
I got through this morning during the fire.
That’s what makes me think it may well be arson. Too many locations.
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