No Injuries in Sweetzer Apartment Fire

An arson fire ignited a top-floor unit in a four-story apartment building in West Hollywood Sunday, but no one was injured, a fire captain said.

The fire occurred as a result of a dispute between two ex-roommates, said Los Angeles County Fire Capt. Mark Savage.

"The involved unit was occupied by one female adult at the time of the fire," Savage said. "The occupant safely escaped from the unit. She was uninjured."

The sheriff's department arson squad said the suspect broke a front window and threw an open container of charcoal lighter fluid with a burning object, possibly paper, into the victim's living room. The victim positively identified the suspect as her ex-roommate, but no information about the suspect was released.

The suspect was not found and has not been arrested, deputies said.

Firefighters dispatched to the 1400 block of North Sweetzer Avenue at 1:52 a.m. had the fire out in about 20 minutes, he said. The fire caused $200,000 damage to the structure and about $100,000 damage to its contents.

The fire-ravaged apartment was gutted, and two apartments below it were damaged by water. Those three units were red tagged or declared uninhabitable until repairs are made, he said.

About 100 tenants were evacuated during the blaze, Savage said.

Sheriff's Lt. William Nash of West Hollywood Station said five apartments -- the gutted apartment where the fire started and four others -- were "red-tagged" or declared uninhabitable until repairs are made.

People at the scene told a video news crew that an ex-boyfriend threw a Molotov cocktail into the apartment where the fire started. Sheriff's Lt.

William Nash of the West Hollywood station said he was aware of those reports but that there was no explosion.

Nash said no immediate arrests were made.

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