Firefighters found multiple lithium-ion batteries used to power scooters in the basement of a two-story house fire that injured four people, including one in critical condition, in Koreatown Friday morning.
Emergency crews were called to the modern four-plex in the 400 block of South Gramercy Place around 8:30 a.m.
The fire was extinguished in about 30 minutes, but firefighters quickly found four patients, the Los Angeles Fire Department said in a news bulletin.
“One patient was pulled from the basement in critical condition and transported to a local hospital,” the fire department said in a statement. Several scooter batteries were also found in the basement with the patient.
The second person was rescued from a second-story window and down a fire department ladder, where he was later tested for smoke inhalation.
A third patient is also being evaluated for smoke inhalation, and a fourth person is being evaluated for other injuries, the fire department said.
Firefighters mostly contained the fire in the basement, but some spread to the first floor of the building.
No firefighters were injured in the incident.
