Fire Tears Through Lares Restaurant

By Jorge Casuso

May 18 -- Fire ravished a popular Mexican eatery on Pico Boulevard Tuesday afternoon, causing minor injuries to five civilians and two firefighters, Fire Department officials said.

The fire, which started in the upstairs kitchen of Lares Restaurant, 2909 Pico Boulevard, ripped through the ceiling and caused smoke and heat damage throughout the structure, fire officials said.

"The building is heavily damaged," said Platoon Commander Dan Matthies, a Fire Department spokesman. "For what wasn't burnt, there's heat and smoke damage."

The fire, which started shortly before 2:45 p.m., was caused by a deep fat fryer left on the stove, Matthies said.

"It was too much fire for the extinguishing system to turn it off," Matthies said.

With rising heat reaching temperatures as high as 1,500 degrees and smoke causing "zero visibility," firefighters crawled on their bellies across the floor, where temperatures ranged from 250 to 300 degrees, in search of the source, Matthies said.

Once it was located in the upstairs kitchen, two hose line were used to extinguish the flames, which had licked through the roof, he said.

"By that time all the oil (in the fryer) was consumed and (the fire) had gone to the structure itself," Matthies said. "That becomes very dangerous for the crews inside. The structure was deteriorating."

Firefighters cut a large opening in the building to allow heat and gases to flow out, Mathies said, adding that the opening "starts a circulating pattern of air the fire follows," making it easier to fight.

LA Firefighters filled in at station one at 1444 7th Street while Santa Monica firefighters fought the flames, which were extinguished by 5 p.m.

At 8 p.m., a small electrical fire from a light fixture broke out across town on the Santa Monica Pier, but it was quickly extinguished and caused no injuries and little damage, Matthies said.

"It was handled without much difficulty," he said.