Fire Consumes Automotive Parts Store and Damages Two Restaurants in Hollywood

A fast-moving fire Saturday evening in Hollywood consumed an automotive parts store and seriously damaged a pair of adjacent restaurants.

The Los Angeles Fire Department received the first of several 9-1-1 calls at 4:21 PM on November 16, 2024, reporting a fire at 1306 North Highland Avenue in Hollywood.

Firefighters arrived quickly at the northeast corner of Highland Avenue and Fountain Avenue to find heavy smoke showing from AutoZone, an automotive parts retailer anchoring a 10,100 square foot one-story L-shaped strip mall that shared a roof and attic with an adjoining delicatessen and sushi restaurant.

Assuring all occupants had safely evacuated AutoZone, first arriving firefighters, bolstered by additional responders, commenced an unwavering attack with handlines on ever-growing flames deep within the auto parts store for a half-hour, until conditions became untenable due to clear structural compromise.

As those fierce flames fed by contents of the auto parts store spread within the attic to heavily impact the northern section of Fat Sal's Deli and the adjacent Sushi Ajito, a well-coordinated transition was made to defensive operations as 124 LAFD responders under the command of Assistant Chief Douglas Lewis worked tirelessly for an additional ninety minutes to fully extinguish the major emergency blaze before any off premises buildings could be affected.

No injuries were reported.

Though some 9-1-1 callers had initially reported an "explosive fire" involving a "battery" within the auto parts store, the specific cause of the fire remains under active investigation.