Fire Guts 5 Stores; 1 Firefighter Hurt

A fire that raged for nearly three hours early Wednesday destroyed $2 million worth of property, gutted five stores in a strip mall and left a firefighter with burns to his neck, authorities said.

Los Angeles County fire officials said an electrical problem at a music store in the Pioneer Boulevard mall probably sparked the blaze shortly after midnight.

When firefighters arrived at the scene, at least one of the stores was engulfed in flames, said Capt. Steve Valenzuela. It took 150 firefighters to quell the blaze, he said.

The fire destroyed the music store, a spice store, two fabric shops and a jewelry store, Valenzuela said. A second jewelry store was badly damaged.

One firefighter, whose name was withheld, suffered burns when hot metal fell on him inside the spice store and burned through his protective hood. He was treated at a local hospital and released.

The blaze burned so fiercely that firefighters eventually retreated from the stores, fearing that burning roofs would collapse, Valenzuela said. As the roofs caved in, they doused the flames from a safer distance.