LAFD Quickly Extinguishes Apartment Fire on Ventura Blvd.

Firefighters put out a small blaze that broke out Wednesday morning on the patio of a three-story apartment building under construction at 16710 Ventura Blvd. in Encino, a Los Angeles Fire Department official said.

According to LAFD spokesman Brian Humphrey, it took 30 firefighters less than 10 minutes to put out the fire at 9:36 a.m. The flames scorched a patio area on the second floor.

Nobody was injured in the fire, Humphrey said.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

The 125-unit apartment complex opposite the Mercedes dealership met with earlier this year. When the box-shaped building was first unveiled in February, it was not the Tuscan-style villa that was originally proposed. Instead, it was a multicolored, art deco building some people considered an eyesore. After residents protested the new design, the developers repainted it in more muted two-tone colors.