Crime & Safety
Hollywood Hills House Fire Damage Estimated at $110,000
The cause of house fire in the Hollywood Hills where firefighters rescued nine pets was determined to be electrical.
The owner of a Hollywood Hills home where firefighters saved nine animals from a blaze on was feeling grateful when Hollywood Patch caught up with him Friday.
Andy Jermstad, who was working late, came home to what he thought was a vandalized home, but quickly realized a tragedy had occured.
"My animals are my family," Jermstad said. "I want to tell the firefighters 'thank you.' They saved as many animals as they could and I'm very grateful for that."
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Late Wednesday night firefighters forced entry into the smoke-filled home and encountered pets trying to escape the fire. A total of nine pets were rescued including four dogs and five cats. Two dogs and two cats were beyond medical help, according to authorities.
The incident caused the closure of Laurel Canyon Boulevard in both directions to traffic past midnight from Lookout Mountain Avenue to Mulholland Drive.
Find out what's happening in Hollywoodwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
The cause of the fire on the 2700 block of Laurel Canyon Road was categorized as electrical, said Brian Humphrey, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Department. Specifics on the cause were not available.
The blaze, which was confined to the kitchen and extinguished in about 20 minutes, resulted in an estimated $110,000 in damage, Humphrey said.
No people were inside the house and the fire was extinguished at 10:22 p.m. No one was reported injured.
