Apartment Blast Injures Child and 3 Adults

An explosion ripped through an apartment building Friday, injuring three adults and a child, blowing out the windows of nearby homes and apparently igniting a blaze that sent thick black of smoke twisting through the air.

The 12:15 p.m. blast in the 700 block of Orange Grove Avenue sent residents screaming into the streets, some bleeding from cuts caused by flying glass.

Authorities said they think the blast resulted from a gas explosion in the kitchen of one of the apartments. An investigation was continuing.

Witnesses said one man who apparently lived in the apartment where the blast originated rushed into the street, holding a bleeding young boy to his chest and screaming for neighbors to call 911.

The man’s identity could not be determined late Friday, but a 31-year-old man was taken to Glendale Adventist Medical Center with first- and second-degree burns covering 40% to 45% of his body. He was in critical condition and was scheduled to be transferred to Grossman Burn Center at Sherman Oaks Hospital, authorities said.

A 6-year-old child was taken to Childrens Hospital in Los Angeles, where he was in fair condition. A 58-year-old man, identified as the father of the 31-year-old man, was treated for flash burns at Glendale Memorial Hospital. A 72-year-old woman was treated at the scene for scrapes.