WEST HOLLYWOOD—A deadly fire on Thursday, May 21 at an abandoned West Hollywood building has become the subject of a Sheriff’s homicide detective investigation.
Just before midnight, firefighters arrived to a commercial building located on the 9000 block of West Melrose Avenue.
Upon arrival, responding firefighters saw flames shooting through the roof of a building they believed to be a homeless encampment after spotting shopping carts and mattresses inside the abandoned structure.
Two people, a woman and a man, were trapped inside the building and extracted by rescue crews. Though the woman survived, the man, a 53-year-old, was transported to the hospital in cardiac arrest where he later died.
The coroner’s office has not released the identity of the deceased as the next of kin had not yet been contacted.
The cause of the deadly fire is still under investigation. Authorities are looking into the possibility that it stemmed from the actions of those inhabiting the building.
