Los Angeles City firefighters responded to a fire in a clothing store early Sunday morning.

The fire broke out at the Nice Cap store at 1325 S Los Angeles Street at about 3:30 a.m. The first responding firefighters saw heavy smoke and flames from the two-story building.

Roll-down metal doors across the front of the store and metal bars at the rear slowed the response, as firefighters had to cut through those security barriers.

The LAFD public information officer reported:

Sparks flew from rotary saws as firefighters cut open multiple rolling steel doors to gain access to the unit. Due to the quantity of stacked, packed textiles, firefighters faced challenges reaching the seat of the fire located on the 2nd floor towards the back of the unit.

“The fire burned through the roof and caused a partial collapse. The heavy, raging fire combined with the safety hazards of the partial collapse required a transition to defensive operations.  Crews deployed master streams and hit the blaze with a deluge of water. They succeeded in knocking back the bulk of the fire which allowed them to return to an offensive operation and resume an interior fire attack.

“Accessing the stairwell to the second floor continued to prove difficult due to the interior storage conditions and the remaining fire.  Ultimately, 134 firefighters operating under the command of Assistant Chief Antoine McKnight achieved a knockdown in two hours and four minutes with no injuries reported.