The Region - News from May 18, 1987

A blaze started by a cigarette gutted one apartment unit and damaged four others in the Wilshire District, but injured no one, officials said. The fire broke out in an apartment on the first floor of the 3-story La Paz apartment complex at 160 S. Virgil Ave., Los Angeles City Fire Department spokesman Jim Williamson said. It took seven units 30 minutes to control the blaze on the first and second floors of the 150-unit complex. Williamson said 14 residents were evacuated during the blaze, but no one was injured. The fire, which caused an estimated $65,000 damage to the structure and $10,000 to the contents of the apartments, was started by a carelessly discarded cigarette, he said.