Fire destroys La Michoacana ice cream shop and guts Inglewood strip mall on Hyde Park Boulevard

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Headline graphic: Strip mall destroyed, over an aerial file photo of Inglewood

Cover photo: File photo (aerial view of Inglewood, 2014; not the fire scene) by Ken Lund, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons; cropped, darkened and text added by The Southbound 105.

By Alberto Zamudio | The Southbound 105 | Oct. 11, 2026

INGLEWOOD — A five-alarm fire tore through a strip mall on East Hyde Park Boulevard on Thursday, destroying a family-run ice cream shop, collapsing roofs and forcing crews to knock down what was left of the building before it could fall on its own.

The Los Angeles County Fire Department was called to a multi-unit commercial building in the 700 block of East Hyde Park Boulevard, just north of Edward Vincent Jr. Park, at about 12:04 p.m. on Oct. 8. Early dispatch traffic placed the fire at 730 E. Hyde Park Blvd., home to La Michoacana, an ice cream and paleta shop.

From one shop to the whole block

Fire officials said La Michoacana was already well involved when the first engines arrived. Firefighters climbed onto the roof and cut ventilation holes, but part of the roof gave way and crews pulled back into a defensive attack, pouring water from ladder pipes instead of fighting the fire from inside.

The fire went to a second alarm at 12:23 p.m. and a third at 12:37 p.m. By about 1:30 p.m. it had grown to five alarms. The department later confirmed the roofs of two buildings collapsed, and flames spread into several neighboring businesses. Smoke blanketed the surrounding blocks, and streets around the scene were shut down through the afternoon.

About 130 firefighters worked the fire before it was knocked down at 4:15 p.m., according to the county fire department. Crews stayed overnight to put out hot spots. FOX 11 reported that the strip mall was a total loss and that crews demolished the remaining structure because it was too unstable to leave standing.

Dispatch audio posted by the Citizen app shows the second- and third-alarm calls pulling engines, quints and squads from multiple battalions, with units told to stage east of the fire on Hyde Park Boulevard. Inglewood contracts with the county for fire service, so the response drew on L.A. County Fire stations across the South Bay and South L.A. The app's incident log said the entire block was enveloped in smoke, with streets blocked and people told to avoid the area.

"Five years of so much work"

For the families who ran businesses in the center, the loss is personal. La Michoacana owner Janet Lara told NBC Los Angeles the shop represented years of effort. "It was like five years of so much work that we put into that place just to see everything come down," she said.

Lara said the family had planned to hand the business down to their oldest daughter. "She was going to be the next owner from here," she said. "That was going to be her gift. That was going to be her future. And it really broke her heart."

A relative of another business owner told FOX 11 they smelled smoke and only had time to run out, without grabbing anything. One Inglewood resident was seen grabbing a hose and helping wet down nearby structures.

Injuries and cause

Early reports said no one was hurt, but L.A. County Fire later said a bystander suffered a leg injury and was taken to a hospital. No firefighters were reported injured.

The cause of the fire is under investigation. FOX 11 reported that construction workers were said to be on the roof when the fire started; fire officials have not said whether that work played any role.

What comes next

With the building demolished, the businesses face months of rebuilding, insurance claims and lost income. No public rebuild plan or city relief program had been announced in the coverage so far. Residents who want to help should look for verified fundraisers linked directly by the business owners, and be wary of copycat pages that often pop up after fires.

The Southbound 105 will follow up on the cause and on what happens to the Hyde Park Boulevard site. If you own or worked at one of the affected businesses, reach out through the contact page.

Sources

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