Fire guts South LA church building; arson probe launched

A fire tore through a South Los Angeles church building early Monday, collapsing part of the roof and prompting arson investigators to respond, according to ABC7 Los Angeles.

The blaze at Greater New Holy Trinity Missionary Baptist Church on the 10800 block of S. Broadway Street left the structure with significant damage and raised questions about its safety. No injuries were reported, and the cause remains under investigation.

The Los Angeles Fire Department responded to the blaze shortly after 5:00 a.m., according to ABC7 Los Angeles. Crews found flames on the second floor of the church building and worked in defensive mode as fire spread to the roof, causing a partial collapse.

The department declared the fire knocked down just after 7:00 a.m. — roughly two hours after the initial report. S. Broadway Street was shut down in both directions during the response.

The building was vacant at the time of the fire, and no injuries were reported. Authorities noted that construction work had been ongoing inside the structure.

Arson investigators were dispatched per standard department protocol. The Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety was called to assess the structural integrity of the damaged building, ABC7 Los Angeles reported.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation. No timeline for structural assessment results or any potential reconstruction was immediately available.