2 Are Killed in Sun Valley Fire

Two people were killed early Monday when fire destroyed an industrial building in Sun Valley.

The fire started about 3:30 a.m. at Kennedy Marketing, a bar and cocktail supply business in the 8500 block of Tujunga Avenue. When firefighters arrived, flames had spread to the roof, city Fire Capt. Bill Wick said.

Darryl Butler, 42, a Kennedy employee and the owner’s son, was injured but escaped from the building before firefighters arrived.

En route to the hospital, Butler told rescue workers that two people might have been trapped inside, Wick said.

The intensity of the fire made an immediate search for victims impossible, Wick said. It took 70 firefighters more than an hour to extinguish the flames.

Starting at daybreak, dog teams searched the debris, and about 2 p.m., rescue workers found the victims. Their names and sexes had not been determined.

Butler, who suffered internal and external burns, was in fair condition Monday evening, officials said.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation. Wick said it appears to have started in an office area where Butler was working. The victims apparently were in a room next door, Wicks said.

Damage was estimated at $2 million, Wick said.