1976 — Dec 20, Witmer Street Apartment House fire (juvenile arson), Los Angeles, CA– 10

–10 NFPA. “1976 Multiple-Death Fires in the United States.” Fire Journal, 71/5, Sep 1977, 63.
–10 National Fire Protection Association. The 1984 Fire Almanac. 1983, p. 138.
–10 Valley News, Van Nuys, CA. “Ignorance proves boon for arsonist.” 5-18-1977, p. 1.

Narrative Information

NFPA, 1977: “Apartment house, Los Angeles, California. This two-story, 20-unit apartment house of wood-frame-and-stucco construction had two open stairways. It had no fire detection, alarm, or suppression systems. There were ten apartments on each floor, five on each side of the hallway. Both stairways opened into the hallways. Both of them extended from the first to the second floor; one also led down to a rear exit.

“The fire apparently was started by a juvenile around 9:30 pm on December 20 in a couch that had been left under the front stairway. When the fire was discovered only the couch was burning. Since there were no telephones in the building, there was a delay in alerting the fire department while occupants were being warned. The delay in transmitting the alarm to the fire department could have been as long as 20 minutes, and during this time, the fire spread up the front stairway and approximately halfway to the rear in both corridors.” (NFPA. “1976 Multiple-Death Fires in the United States.” Fire Journal, 71/5, Sep 1977, 63.)

Newspaper

Dec 21, United Press International: “Los Angeles (UPI) – Five adults and a 3-year-old girl were killed and 20 persons were injured, many from leaping out of windows, in a fire that broke out at an aging, two-story apartment building…’ The fire spread awfully fast,’ a city fire spokesman said. ‘It definitely was of suspicion origin. But we don’t know how or where it started.’ Flames completely engulfed the top story of the 20-unit building in the MacArthur Park section, about a mile from the civic center, forcing adults and children to race to upper floor windows to escape the blaze. About seven persons were rescued by firemen, who put ladders up against the building, but many were forced to jump about 16 feet to the ground.

“A force of 70 city firemen controlled the blaze in the building…which houses an estimated 80 to 100 residents…in about 30 minutes….helicopters transferred 12 of the injured to several area hospitals. The injured included an 18-year-old man with major burns, and a 50-year-old woman in critical condition, and two firemen, who suffered smoke inhalation. Fire officials said the blaze broke out shortly after 9 p.m. in the 40-foot by 80-foot building and quickly engulfed eight units of the top floor.” (Bucks County Courier Times, PA. “Five adults, Girl Die in Apartment Blaze,” December 21, 1976.)

Dec 31: “The death toll in the Witmer Street, Los Angeles, apartment house fire 11 days ago rose to nine with the death Wednesday of 22-year-old Guadalupe Carranza, coroner’s officials said. Officials said the woman died at Kaiser Hospital of burns she suffered in the fire which swept through the old 20-unit apartment building at 335 Witmer St. on the night of Dec. 20. The day after the fire, Mrs. Carranza was delivered of a 5½-month stillborn baby boy. Her 8-month-old daughter, Galila, originally taken with her mother in critical condition to County-USC Medical Center, remained hospitalized. Nursing personnel at the Medical Center were unable to disclose the baby’s condition, except to say that she was no longer in the burn ward.

“The fire claimed seven other lives, including another baby stillborn at eight months and a 3-year-old girl.

“Arson investigators afterward ruled the blaze had been deliberately set, but no suspects have yet been found.” (Valley News, Van Nuys, CA. “Apartment fire claims ninth life.” 12-31-1976, p. 2.1.

May 18, 1977: “A juvenile court judge acquitted a 10-year-old boy of manslaughter and arson charges stemming from an apartment house fire which claimed 10 lives last Christmas week. Charges against the unidentified youth were dismissed after Judge David N. Fitts ruled the prosecution hadn’t shown the defendant understood the consequences of the act. The youth had been charged with nine counts of manslaughter and one count of arson. He was accused of setting the blaze, which raced through an apartment building at 335 S. Witmer St. last Dec. 20.” (Valley News, Van Nuys, CA. “Ignorance proves boon for arsonist.” 5-18-1977, p. 1.)

Sources

Bucks County Courier Times, Levittown, PA. “Five adults, Girl Die in Apartment Blaze,” 12-21-1976. At: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=25038524

National Fire Protection Association. “1976 Multiple-Death Fires in the United States.” Fire Journal, Vol. 71, No. 5, September 1977, pp. 61-64.

National Fire Protection Association. The 1984 Fire Almanac. Quincy, MA: NFPA, 1983.

Valley News, Van Nuys, CA. “Apartment fire claims ninth life.” 12-31-1976, p. 2.1. Accessed 10-6-2021 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/van-nuys-valley-news-dec-31-1976-p-9/

Valley News, Van Nuys, CA. “Ignorance proves boon for arsonist.” 5-18-1977, p. 1. Accessed 10-6-2021 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/van-nuys-valley-news-may-18-1977-p-1/