A man was found dead inside a commercial building that was damaged by a fire in the Manchester neighborhood of South Los Angeles, according to fire officials.
Los Angeles Fire Department (LAPD) officers responded to a fire in a building on S. Main Street near Imperial Highway at around 12:17 a.m.
“Immediately, we went into defensive mode,” LAFD captain Iván Carmona said. “While we were putting out the fire, we finally found a deceased person 10 feet from the front door.”
A suspect was arrested Friday for allegedly setting a series of vehicle fires in the Sunland-Tujunga area earlier this year.
The cause of death was not immediately clear. The Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner is expected to determine the identity of the deceased.
Carmona said it has become part of regular procedure for fire crews to search for people when responding to fires in the same neighborhood.
“We have been here before. We think a homeless person started the fire,” Carmona said. “We tried to find people right away because we knew there were some homeless people living here.”
83 firefighters were dispatched to the scene and were able to extinguish the fire in 38 minutes.
The LAFD captain added that the building appears to be a body shop with cars inside and at least two vehicles in the property’s garage. Fire crews also found some upholstery and mattress materials inside the building.
Los Angeles police are also involved in the investigation, according to Carmona.
This story first appeared on Telemundo 52’s sister station, NBCLA. Click here to read this story in English.
