The fire broke out around 5:21 p.m. at a building on 7764 W Hollywood Blvd., just east of Fairfax Avenue.
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Investigators said two vehicles were spotted burning in a carport. The fires then spread to two of three apartment buildings in the area.
Steve Nelson, who manages a building across the street, reported seeing "cars exploding" in the back area.
"It was pretty intense for all of us," he said. "The smoke ... you couldn't see."
AIR7 HD captured a two-story building engulfed in flames.
The Los Angeles Fire Department said the fire in that building caused severe damage to the attic and 16 apartment units on the second floor, including "structural compromise and partial collapse."
"Flames from that building extended to stubbornly involve the attic of the identical adjoining apartment buildings to the east, which sustained severe attic damage," read an update issued by LAFD.
Another three-story apartment building on the southwest corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Genesee Avenue sustained only smoke damage, officials said.
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AIR7 HD was also above the scene when firefighters helped a woman down the stairs of the building. She had mobility issues, according to investigators, and has since been sent to a nearby hospital.
Meanwhile, residents of the buildings have since been displaced, wondering where they'll go from here.
"I saw the back doorway covered with smoke and I'm thinking, 'Something's not right,'" said Andrew Cusimano, who's lived in one of the buildings since 1972. "I grabbed [my dog] Buddy and I put on a bathrobe ... I didn't think this was a serious situation and walked outside and all of this."
No other injuries have been reported.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.