LOS ANGELES — Authorities like launched a prison investigation into a warehouse explosion in downtown Los Angeles that injured 11 firefighters Saturday, extra than one legislation enforcement source said.

Investigators with the city’s fire and police departments — to boot as the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives — are having a look for into an enterprise associated with the warehouse, the sources said.

The enterprise, Smoke Tokes, is reported to be a dealer for butane honey oil, the Los Angeles Fire Division said. An initial assessment found that the firm is likely to be a wholesaler of merchandise extinct to originate concentrated hashish, a path of that in most cases requires the usage of extremely flammable butane.

The sources said there had been no placards launch air the warehouse warning firefighters in regards to the butane.

City officers described Smoke Tokes as a “ghost enterprise” on the legend of it doesn’t appear in native regulatory files. The firm is incorporated as a restricted liability firm with the screech, the officers said, however, the city has no document of it.

A pair of makes an attempt to reach the person listed in screech files as the firm’s proprietor had been unsuccessful.

The fireplace, in Los Angeles’ Toy District, used to be reported at 6: 26 p.m. After firefighters arrived, there had been an explosion and a mayday name that the blaze may perchance well like unfold to extra than one structure. Photography showed firefighters crawling throughout the gargantuan flames to envision out to flee.

“As that butane ignited, it blew out of that commercial building like a blowtorch,” said Eric Scott, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Division.

Los Angeles Fire Chief Ralph Terrazas said leisurely Saturday that the 11 firefighters “are on the avenue to restoration.”