'Mayday! ... Firefighters trapped!': The battle to save Victory Baptist Church

LOS ANGELES — Less than 90 seconds after the bedside alarm broke the spell of sleep, Los Angeles Fire Department Battalion Chief Gregg Avery and his partner, Chris Klimpel, were racing out of Station 13 through the streets of Pico-Union toward Victory Baptist Church.

Their command vehicle's lights scoured darkened storefronts. Their siren chased cars to the curb. South on the 110 Freeway, traffic was light.

Avery, 62, and Klimpel, 49, were in the 20th hour of their 24-hour shift, another day at work for the veteran firefighters with nearly 57 years of experience between them battling blazes in Los Angeles.

Yet as skilled as they are, the next half-hour would prove once again how unpredictable the most routine calls are and how quickly they can turn potentially fatal.

Avery's and Klimpel's recollections of that night — Sept. 11, 2022 — and a summary report by LAFD provide a harrowing account of the 30-minute battle to save the historic church. It drew upon the efforts of 150 firefighters who swarmed the property that over the course of its nearly 80 years had hosted renowned politicians, civil