2 people in critical condition after flames rip through South LA home

SOUTH LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Two people were critically injured when a fire ripped through a home in South Los Angeles Monday morning.

The fire broke out just after 9 a.m. at the corner of Vermont Avenue and 43rd Place in South L.A.

There were seven people inside the building at the time, firefighters say. Most managed to escape with only minor injuries, but officials and witnesses say a woman was found unconscious inside the home and had to be rescued from the flames. She and another person were rushed to a local hospital in critical condition.

The fire completely gutted one unit of the duplex. Neighbors described seeing people jump out of windows to escape the flames.

It took 20 minutes for 54 firefighters to knock the flames down.

The video in the player above is the ABC7 24/7 livestream.

"Our priority was life safety, as soon as we saw we had patients," said LAFD assistant fire chief Kristina Kepner. "We confined the fire to the house of origin with no exposures."

The cause of the fire remains under investigation, but neighbors say it looked like it started in the living room and spread through the building to the roof.

The Red Cross has been called in to assist displaced residents.