Fire damaged more than 100 units overnight at a Long Beach storage facility, authorities said.
The blaze was reported at 11:50 p.m. Sunday at the Extra Space Storage facility in the 2000 block of West Wardlow Road, said Long Beach Firefighter Jake Heflin.
At 4:15 a.m. salvage and overhaul operations were underway, Heflin said. Firefighters were expected to be on the scene past sunrise, pouring more water on the building to cool its contents and put out hot spots.
One firefighter suffered a shoulder injury while battling the blaze and was treated at a hospital and released, Heflin said.
Firefighters reported heavy fire showing from multiple storage units, Heflin said. At 12:10 a.m. they opted for defensive operations to protect surrounding structures while training water on the flames from the exterior.
They called for additional firefighters, making it a third alarm at 12:17 a.m., Heflin said, with more than 75 firefighters from Long Beach, Los Angeles County and other area departments either working on the fire or staffing vacant fire stations.
Heflin said all the materials being stored constituted fuel for the fire.
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"When you think about what is in storage units, there is a lot of personal belongings, boxes," said Heflin. "There was a significant fire load."
Firefighters were concerned about the building collapsing, Heflin said. Arson investigators were on the scene.
