LOS ANGELES — On Saturday, March 25, 2006 at  8:23 p.m., 20 companies of Los Angeles firefighters, 10 LAFD rescue ambulances, one arson unit, one urban search and rescue unit, one hazardous materials team, three EMS battalion captains, seven battalion chief officer command teams, and one division chief officer command team, under the direction of Assistant Chief John Ware responded to a major emergency structure fire at 3625 West 6th Street in the Hancock Park/Wilshire Center area.

First units on the scene reported a three-story office building with heavy smoke showing from the third floor. Forcing entry into the structure and taking handlines aloft, firefighters encountered heavy smoke on the second floor. On the reported fire floor, firefighters were immediately confronted with an extraordinary amount of dense smoke and were unable to locate the seat of the fire after searching for a considerable amount of time.

As firefighters continued to survey the exterior of the building, it was discovered that the building was three stories in the front and two stories in the rear. The fire was located on the second floor of the two story portion of the building. Firefighters using handlines aggressively attacked the fire and extinguished it in approximately 38 minutes.

Due to the large volume of fire on the fire floor, building and safety inspectors were requested to inspect the integrity of the building's second floor. No injuries were reported and the cause of the fire is listed as under investigation. Fire damage is still being tabulated.