Venice storage fire: 8 firefighters injured

VENICE, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Eight firefighters were injured battling a fire at a storage facility in Venice on Saturday.

The fire broke out at Extra Space Storage, located in the 600 block of Venice Boulevard, at 7:37 p.m.

The flames burned inside multiple storage units on the building's second story. It took more than six hours and 365 firefighters to get the bulk of the flames under control. The blaze was still smoldering early Sunday and was fully extinguished at 9:56 a.m.

The building's metal roof hampered vertical ventilation efforts and caused the fire to burn extremely hot. Firefighters used rotary saws with diamond tipped blades to cut holes in the walls for ventilation, fire officials said.

One firefighter was taken to a hospital suffering heat exhaustion, and another suffered a back injury and heat blisters. A third firefighter suffered an unspecified injury. An engine captain was also treated at the scene.

At least three of the injured firefighters were being treated at area hospitals, and one was said to be in serious condition, said Erik Scott of the Los Angeles Fire Department. All were expected to be released Sunday.

Officials said about one-third of the facility's storage units suffered damage. Los Angeles Fire Department Deputy Chief Joseph Castro said the units were packed.

"It's like having 200 small garages inside of a building, all individually burning, all individually heavily secured and they all are packed with stuff," Castro said.

Jon Hill said all of his possessions were inside the storage facility. Officials said business patrons will not be able to safely access their storage units until Monday.

Venice Boulevard remains closed between Abbot Kinney and Lincoln boulevards. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

CNS contributed to this report.