Beverly Hills apartment fire displaces residents, injures firefighters

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - A Beverly Hills apartment building caught fire Wednesday, displacing residents and forcing a partial roof collapse.

What we know:

The Beverly Hills Fire Department responded to a call in the 200 block of South Rexford Drive around 10:30 a.m. on Sept. 9. Residents evacuated safely, but multiple firefighters were injured, with two taken to the hospital, including one treated for heat exhaustion. High heat and humidity created significant physical challenges for crews battling the flames in heavy gear.

The fire forced residents out of the garden-style, multi-unit building and onto the street as flames shot through the roof. Neighboring homes were also impacted by the emergency response.

Local perspective:

Scott Prisland, a 30-year resident of one of the four units, evacuated alongside his wife, Marnie. Firefighters managed to pull photo albums from their home, along with a Tony Award Prisland recently won for the Broadway musical "Schmigadoon!"

"The Beverly Hills Fire Department did get us out and rescued the Tony, which is very nice," Prisland said. "We lost a lot of other stuff, which is terrible, and I feel horrible for our neighbors."

"We have to keep in mind, these guys are wearing 35 pounds of turnouts and 35 pounds of SCBA and they heat up quickly," said Beverly Hills Fire Department Battalion Chief Jr. Berardinelli. "We got to re-hab them, they lose a lot of fluids quickly because of the heat, not only the fire but outside. We got to take extra care, everyone is exposed to the heat — the weather and humidity only adds to the problem."

The apartment fire happened a short distance from Beverly Vista Middle School, and the campus went into a brief lockdown as firefighters battled the blaze. The school provided space for overheated firefighters to cool down during the effort.

"The school across the street, Beverly Vista, their children were shelter in place when this was happening," said Lauren Santillana, Beverly Hills public information officer. The shelter-in-place order was lifted once the area was safe for students.

What we don't know:

It remains unclear how the fire started.