Firefighters stopped flames from spreading to other units in an apartment at the northwest corner of Olympic Boulevard and Bedford Street. (photo by Edwin Folven)

The Los Angeles Fire Department extinguished a blaze on Jan. 20 in a ground floor apartment at Olympic Boulevard and Bedford Street, just south of the Beverly Hills border,

“We received a call at 11:39 a.m. about a structure fire and eight units were dispatched,” LAFD spokeswoman Lyndsey Lantz said. “Firefighters responded to a two-story apartment building and found moderate smoke on the first floor.”

Residents evacuated before firefighters arrived. The blaze was extinguished in 15 minutes. Lantz said the fire started in “contents” inside the apartment. The exact cause remains under investigation. A resident of the unit where the fire started was evaluated at the scene for injuries but did not require hospitalization, Lantz said.

Jeremy Blutstein, a nearby resident who was jogging by the building when he saw smoke, helped ensure the resident in the affected unit got out safely. Ryan Keating, who was driving by the building, stopped and used a fire extinguisher to fight the flames.

“I saw a lady in a window and I could see smoke behind her so I called 911, and then this guy ran up with a fire extinguisher,” Blutstein said. “People driving by were saying, ‘there’s a hose, there’s a hose up front,’ and I ran out and got the hose and just started spraying in there. The lady crawled out. She thought her cat was inside, but then the cat came running out.”

“I just saw it and grabbed my fire extinguisher. I walked in the front door and immediately, the smoke was from here up,” Keating said pointing to his waist. “I snuck into the black smoke to make sure there was nobody else in there.”

A resident in another unit in the building who declined to give his name said he is thankful firefighters kept the flames from spreading. He said he has seen people evacuated due to recent fires in hillside areas, but never expected something similar would happen to him.

“We were so lucky, because I was in the apartment and I didn’t smell anything. My daughter was literally playing on the floor,” the resident said. “And then I heard screaming, so I opened my front door and I saw the smoke. I always had this fear about it, so we have our plan and we came out back. My daughter was a little tearful, but she was OK.”

LAFD personnel remained at the scene after the fire was extinguished to help with cleanup operations and ensure the flames did not rekindle.