UPDATED: Fire Damages Hillside House in Highland Park

A fire damaged a multi-level hillside house in Highland Park today, but no one was injured.

Firefighters sent to the 1900 block of Phillips Way at 12:53 p.m. extinguished the flames in 37 minutes, Erik Scott of the Los Angeles Fire Department said.

Three people who were inside the home when the fire broke out managed to escape safely along with their cats, Scott said. One cat suffered smoke inhalation and was given oxygen, he said.

A total of 97 firefighters responded to the blaze, he said.

“Firefighters had to open up interior walls and use infrared thermal cameras to detect and extinguish flames hiding in the walls of the 92-year-old house,” Scott said, adding that a small patch of outside vegetation caught fire, but the flames were snuffed out before they could spread to neighboring lots.

The cause was deemed to be electrical and likely involved a wall socket, he said.

The fire did an estimated $230,000 in damage, $200,000 to the structure and $30,000 to its contents, Scott said.

Firefighters prevented damage to $270,000 worth of property, he said.

--City News Service