Historic Black church in South L.A. burns for a third time

This is read by an automated voice.Please report any issues or inconsistencies here.

See more from the L.A.Times in Google Search.

Set us as preferred A historic Black church in South Los Angeles that had been severely damaged in two previous fires went up in flames for a third time before sunrise Monday.A fire at the vacant house of worship at East 27th and Paloma streets was reported just after 3:30 a.m., and the two-story wooden building “looks like it’s going to be a complete tear-down,” said Jennifer Middleton, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles Fire Department.Flames ripped through the roof, and it took about 180 firefighters more than an hour and 36 minutes to knock down the blaze at 1001 E.

27th St.An arson investigation is underway, Middleton said.“Luckily, there are no injuries,” she said, adding that heavy equipment crews were on scene early Monday doing some demolition work.

The building, she said, has been red-tagged.While there potentially is smoke or water damage to some neighboring structures, the fire was contained to the church.The former Crouch Memorial Church of God in Christ was built in 1905, according to property records, and is part of a historic Black neighborhood, the 27th Street Historic District, that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.It first burned in October 2013 in a massive blaze during which two Los Angeles firefighters were injured.

When firefighters arrived that morning, they saw flames shooting from the attic.Within 15 minutes of their arrival, portions of the attic and second floor collapsed, trapping a firefighter in heavily burning debris and forcing him to use his emergency air canister to breathe, according to an LAFD significant incident summary report.

“I got fire all around me ...I got fire all around me,” he could be heard saying over emergency radio transmissions before his colleagues carried him to safety.

Another firefighter involved in the rescue was briefly evaluated ...