Neighbors help family escape Hollywood fire

A working fire alarm and quick-thinking neighbors helped a family of five escape an early-morning fire Thursday that broke out in an east Hollywood apartment.

The family opened windows and threw mattresses out of their second-story apartment in the 800 block of Mariposa Avenue near Little Armenia about 6:26 a.m., in anticipation of having to jump out, said Erik Scott, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Department.

Neighbors came to the rescue and placed painter's ladders outside the apartment windows, allowing the husband, wife and their three daughters to escape.

When firefighters arrived, they didn't find anyone else in the apartment. They put out the fire, which was confined to the kitchen. No other units in the building were affected, Scott said.

Aside from the family's neighbors, the biggest help came from the functional smoke alarm.

"In this case, it truly aided in saving the life of this wonderful family," Scott said. The family members' names were not released.

Firefighters said the cause was accidental and possibly electrical in origin.

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-- Dalina Castellanos