Eight people were displaced Tuesday after a fire took down two homes that were under construction in South Los Angeles.
Flames broke out in the frames of two homes in the 1100 block of East 95th Street at about 3:30 a.m. Dozens of firefighters had the fire out within 30 minutes, despite downed wires.
“I was sleeping, and I just heard my mom screaming,” Diana Martinez said. “She was like, the house in the back is on fire!”
The fire was so hot, firefighters battled the blaze from a distance. One firefighter said the flames went as high as 80 feet in the air.
Firefighters worked to keep the flames from spreading to a neighboring medical center, but a shelter housing 20 people next door was damaged. Eight people – four adults, and four children, were displaced.
No injuries were reported. But the fire left one house frame charred, and the other one collapsed.