One firefighter injured in downtown commerical building fire

LOS ANGELES, Calif. (FOX 11 / CNS) - A fire heavily damaged a single-story commercial building in the downtown Los Angeles area today and left a firefighter with an injury, authorities said.

Firefighters sent at 7:40 a.m. to Smith & Company, a metal-fabrication business in the 1300 block of Newton Street, extinguished the flames in about 45 minutes, said Brian Humphrey of the Los Angeles Fire Department.

The cause of the fire was under investigation. A damage estimate was not immediately available. A firefighter was hurt in a fall and taken to a hospital for treatment of an injury that was not life-threatening, Humphrey said.

Arriving firefighters found the fire burning through the roof of the building, and they adopted a defensive posture, battling the blaze from the perimeter and preventing the flames from spreading to other structures.

The business makes items that may include wire frames for lampshades, Humphrey said.