Photo Credit: CBS Los Angeles

A large fire broke out on The Strand and resulted in the damage of at least five houses. Investigators believe the fire was suspicious.

As of right now, the fire has been extinguished, but fire crews are still doing their part to make sure the area is as safe as possible. However, there is still some concern that the three-story home (that was under construction) where the fire started could possibly collapse. They believe the home is now unstable, so the beach side of The Strand is now closed in case that happens.

Because the homes on The Strand are so close together, the fire quickly spread and damaged both homes on either side of it and across the alley from it. In addition to the five houses that were damaged, several homes beyond that had to be evacuated as well.

Crews were able to get the fire under control in about an hour.

A witness, Key Write, described the scene: “I saw smoke from there, and when I got close to it, you could feel the heat – it was intense. People were kind of scattered, you could see the animals that were out; they were scared. There was loud popping and both houses were on fire. You could see fear in a lot of people, they had to evacuate a lot. It was a scary scene, like something out of a movie.”

Police took one person of interest into custody. They are questioning him to try to figure out how the fire started.

Although everyone was safely evacuated in the neighboring houses, one firefighter suffered a minor injury. He is currently in the hospital being treated.