Body Recovered This Afternoon From North Hills 1/13 Structure Fire

Correction: The LAFD identifies the structure fire at 15226 Parthenia (34°13'41.2"N 118°27'51.6 )as a two-story boarded up commercial structure. Various news outlets have reported it as 15236 Parthenia, and suggested it was a Church. Google maps indicate Trans World Missions is at 15226 address. TWM is based out of North Carolina. However, real estate listings describe it as 

• Property Type Religious Facility
• Total Building Size 12,648 SF
• Year Built 1980
• A portion of the building has been taken down to the studs 
• The property is located within a federally designated Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone).

The fire at ̷1̷5̷2̷3̷6̷  15226 W Parthenia St. began 1/13 at 5:43pm was described as a "two-story (boarded up) commercial building with heavy fire showing, exposing a four-story garden style apartment building. By 7:39 "Over 100 firefighters extinguished the fire in just under two hours"   

Then the LAFD announced at 3:20pm 1/14/26 "This morning, out of an abundance of caution, Human Remains Detection (HRD) K9s were utilized to search the heavily damaged structure." 

The LAFD announced 1/15/26 12:27 a body had been found "LAFD Incident Command, the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner, and LAPD are working together to effect body removal in a dignified manner."

Updates were posted at LAFD Alerts

• 01/13/2026 5:43PM INC#1523 LAFD Structure Fire
• 1/13/2026 06:06PM Update INC#1523 LAFD  "With 17 fire companies assigned, this is now a Major Emergency incident. Firefighters are in the defensive mode on the commercial (boarded up) building and are offensive on the exposed apartment building."
• 1/13/2026 07:19PM Update  INC#1523 LAFD "One 42 year-old female patient was transported in fair condition for possible smoke inhalation."
• 01/13/2026 07:39PM KNOCKDOWN Major Emergency Structure Fire INC#1523 LAFD "Over 100 firefighters extinguished the fire in just under two hours"
•  01/14/2026 3:20PM Update Structure Fire INC#1523 LAFD "An alert does not necessarily mean a body was located which is why visual confirmation is required. LAFD Heavy Equipment is on scene and is strategically demolishing the structure so the debris can be searched and cleared." 
• 1/14 5:45PM: Update Structure Fire INC#1523 LAFD "The LAFD Heavy Equipment Operators (HEO) have completed their work for the evening. They successfully removed that wall which had collapsed against the gas meters for the adjacent apartment building. This will provide safe access for SoCal Gas to make any necessary repairs and restore gas service to the apartments. The HEO will return in the morning to continue systematically clearing debris and potentially work with the HRD K9s"  
• 1/15/26 12:27PM UPDATE: *Fatality* Structure Fire INC#1523 LAFD LAFD units including Heavy Equipment, Arson, and specialized search dog teams coordinated a systematic search over the course of three days, and have located a body inside the structure affected by this fire. Demographics of the victim are unknown at this time. LAFD Incident Command, the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner, and LAPD are working together to effect body removal in a dignified manner while fire operations continue throughout the day and into Friday. 

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