A resident was critically injured during a fire in a unit on Martel Avenue in the Melrose area. (photo by Edwin Folven)

The Los Angeles Fire Department was called to a multi-unit property at 834 N. Martel Ave. around 1:50 p.m. on March 2 after a fire erupted in a one-story bungalow in the Melrose area. Firefighters arrived to find smoke coming from a unit and went into “offensive firefighting mode,” LAFD spokesman Mark McLean said. Thirty-two firefighters quickly extinguished the blaze, which erupted in “contents” inside the bungalow. They discovered a man inside in respiratory arrest and quickly rushed him to the hospital in critical condition. No further information was available about the victim. The specific cause of the fire remains under investigation, according to McLean. Firefighters prevented the flames from spreading to other units and no other injuries were reported.