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L.A. firefighters injured battling blaze at Venice storage facility

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Firefighters were scrambling Saturday night to douse a massive fire that engulfed a two-story storage facility in Venice.

Two firefighters were taken to the hospital, one suffering from heat exhaustion and another an injured back and heat blisters, said Los Angeles fire spokesman Erik Scott. A fire captain was also injured and was being treated at the scene, he said.

“This is an extremely hot fire,” Scott said, explaining that the building’s metal roof made it difficult to create vertical ventilation and allow heat and smoke to release. “We’ve called for continuous waves of firefighters to assist.”

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The fire broke out at 7:37 p.m. at the Extra Space Storage facility at 658 Venice Blvd.

The storage units were filled with all manner of flammable belongings, allowing the fire to spread quickly, Scott said. Firefighters broke windows to try to ventilate the building and were trying to cut a hole in the roof. They extinguished flames in unit after unit but the blaze continued to burn, Scott said.

“These firefighters are being pushed to the limit,” he said.

By 11 p.m., about 200 fire personnel were at the scene and were pouring copious amounts of water from hose lines on the active blaze rather than trying to enter the building, he said.

“We continually consider risk versus gain,” Scott said.

For more Southern California news, follow @joemozingo and @jackfleonard.

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