Jeremy Bru, a 19-year-old exchange student from France, has died due to smoke inhalation and burns suffered from a high-rise apartment fire in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles.
The fire started at around 8:37 a.m. on Wednesday, January 29, 2020. The incident occurred at the Building A tower of the Barrington Plaza apartment complex on 11740 West Wilshire Boulevard. The building had 25 stories and 270 units.
Los Angeles City Fire Department investigators said the fire started in a seventh-floor unit. They extinguished it by 9:56 a.m.
Jeremy Bru was one of 14 individuals treated after the fire, mostly for smoke inhalation. Emergency personnel transported seven people, including a 3-month-old child, to local hospitals.
There were two men, both 30 years old, who in the apartment where the fire started also suffered serious injuries.
Three firefighters also received minor burns while using bottled oxygen. Nearly 300 firefighters altogether responded to help fight the fire and evacuate residents.
It is not clear what caused the fire; there is an ongoing investigation into the matter. But this is the second fire in this building in seven years.
Potential Negligence
Douglas Emmett Inc., one of the largest real estate companies in the world, owns Barrington Plaza. The publicly traded company has a market cap of $7.3 billion. But the apartment complex does not have a sprinkler system.
On Friday January 31, Los Angeles City Council members called for mandating sprinkler systems in all residential high-rise towers in the city.
Just last year Barrington Plaza owner Santa Monica-based Douglas Emmett Inc. settled a lawsuit with a tenant over allegations of negligence due to the 2013 fire.
As of the time of this post, at least one tenant has filed suit against Douglas Emmett Inc, over the latest fire, also alleging negligence. It is unknown if the suit involves Jeremy Bru’s death.
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