One Dead, Others Escape Wilmington Motel Fire By Jumping From Windows
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A man was killed and 12 injured in a motel fire in Wilmington early Thursday. Toni Guinyard reports for Today in LA on Thursday, Apr. 2, 2015. By Jeff Scharping (Published Thursday, Apr 2, 2015)
A man was killed and others were injured in a motel fire in Wilmington early Thursday that forced some residents to escape by jumping out of second-floor windows.
The blaze broke out just after 3 a.m. at the two-story Wilmington Hotel on 100 East C Street. It has been deemed a crime scene due to the speed with which the flames spread to both floors, with fire officials deeming the blaze suspicious.
Twenty-nine people were in the building at the time of the fire. Fifteen people were treated for injuries at the scene, 12 were hospitalized.
One of those hurt was a child.
Fatal Wilmington Motel Fire
![[LA GALLERY] Fatal Wilmington Motel Fire](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_uAa3fAEc11tw6vKPe8r0bvqlerwQpip7aSARCaujkMEoCXc834PEBI9WdJ6m5eZppb8T6pzetYMDTvVYea2-XXMCuB0KwzyrS3lTLKfkHuG5ljZZnUAiH519pOenkFu3qDh6j_9faQ2rr6VdMXMIT9P-aA96ivUw=s0-d)
When firemen tried to get in at the front of the building they were met by a fireball, and tried to climb a fence to get access through the back. People were trapped inside during the fire, with some jumping out of windows to escape in a scene described as "chaotic and scary."
"There was nothing we could really do... (there were) big men and big women jumping out. There was nothing we could do to cushion the fall or nothing," resident Manuel Sanchez said, "People were banging their heads on the ground (and) breaking their arms."
Paul Gordon was sleeping inside on the first floor when he was alerted to the fire by smoke alarms.
"I opened the door to see what was going on and flames just rushed into my room," he said, "I was able to close the door to keep the flames out, but the smoke was getting lower and lower. The only thing I could do was... grab my phone and jump out of the windows."
Southern California Images in the News
![[LA GALLERY UPDATED 4-2] Southern California Images in the News](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_vThp94v854U7mgyhKf7BlBGbkh3eA8jnHrBTKp3GNWcBejk437u4KMIy-iU9bP0RN31zSXng_hvOwh_wEF-7-19zGOX_aNYb5hAm7UvhDjwWG_cVv54XNAyJ0qucHcLO7S6Ro3PypzcTJqLvPHmXCIoRnU8A6bd4Fh=s0-d)
Once he was outside he did his best to help victims who were injured when making their escape.
"It was total chaos, just crazy. There were people running everywhere screaming (and) jumping out of windows. It was terrifying," Gordon added.
The hotel has 20 units and 29 occupants, and the Red Cross and Los Angeles City Council member Joe Buscaino are assisting the non-injured displaced occupants.
The cause of the fire is still unknown. Los Angeles Fire Department firefighters called a knockdown on the blaze at 4:08 a.m. Fire officials described the fire as "suspicious."
Kevin LaBeach contributed to this report
Published at 3:53 AM PDT on Apr 2, 2015
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US News
April 2, 2015 Updated: April 2, 2015 9:12am
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Several people jumped from the second story of a burning Los Angeles hotel to escape fast-moving flames early Thursday that killed one person and left 15 others with injuries including burns and broken bones, officials said.
Crews arriving to the blaze that broke out around 3 a.m. immediately had to go into rescue mode at the two-story residential hotel near the harbor, Capt. Daniel Curry said.
"We had people in the windows and starting to jump," Curry told KNX Radio. "The first thing we had to do was start throwing ladders at the building and pick people off the second floor."
Television footage showed flames shooting from windows and victims lying on the street and sidewalks.
A man staying on the first floor of the 20-unit building died at the scene, city fire spokesman Erik Scott said. Two people were hospitalized with injuries that were moderate to serious, 10 others went to hospitals with minor injuries, and three more were treated at the scene. A child about 8 years old was among those hurt, Scott said.
It took more than 100 firefighters about an hour to extinguish the blaze in Wilmington.
The Red Cross was providing assistance to more than 15 people displaced from the Wilmington Hotel in an industrial area just north of the Port of Los Angeles.
The cause of the fire was under investigation, but the hotel had functional smoke alarms, Scott said.
Officials did not immediately release an estimate of the damage.
LOS ANGELES—A fire that broke out in a Los Angeles hotel early Thursday morning has been labeled as suspicious in nature and is being investigated by authorities as a possible arson, officials said.
The fire killed one adult male resident and destroyed the two-story structure in the port-adjacent neighborhood of Wilmington, displacing the more than two dozen other long-term residents. The fire was reported at 3:15 a.m. local time and was extinguished by 4:03 a.m. by approximately 100 firefighters.
Fifteen people suffered injuries, mostly in their efforts to exit the building, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Department said late Thursday morning. Three were treated at the scene and 12 were transported to a nearby medical facility with injuries such as broken bones and sprains.
LAFD Spokesman Peter Sanders said the hotel had smoke alarms that several residents said alerted them of the fire, but the building didn’t have fire sprinklers. The man who died was found in his residence, inside the building.
Canine units and investigators were combing the scene for evidence of arson, and expected to wrap up their work by the end of the day Thursday.
Write to Erica E. Phillips at erica.phillips@wsj.com
LOS ANGELES — Several people jumped from the second story of a burning Los Angeles hotel to escape fast-moving flames early Thursday that killed one person and left 15 others with injuries including burns and broken bones, officials said.
Crews arriving to the blaze that broke out around 3 a.m. immediately had to go into rescue mode at the two-story residential hotel near the harbor, Capt. Daniel Curry said.
"We had people in the windows and starting to jump," Curry told KNX Radio. "The first thing we had to do was start throwing ladders at the building and pick people off the second floor."
Television footage showed flames shooting from windows and victims lying on the street and sidewalks.
A man staying on the first floor of the 20-unit building died at the scene, city fire spokesman Erik Scott said. Two people were hospitalized with injuries that were moderate to serious, 10 others went to hospitals with minor injuries, and three more were treated at the scene. A child about 8 years old was among those hurt, Scott said.
It took more than 100 firefighters about an hour to extinguish the blaze in Wilmington.
The Red Cross was providing assistance to more than 15 people displaced from the Wilmington Hotel in an industrial area just north of the Port of Los Angeles.
The cause of the fire was under investigation, but the hotel had functional smoke alarms, Scott said.
Officials did not immediately release an estimate of the damage.
(Reuters) - A "suspicious" fire tore through a small hotel in an industrial district of Los Angeles on Thursday, killing one man and injuring 15 other people including a child, local fire officials said.
More than 100 firefighters took almost an hour to extinguish the pre-dawn blaze at the low-cost, two-story Wilmington Hotel, where some occupants leaped from windows to escape the flames, the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) said.
"LAFD Arson Investigators are combing through the debris to determine the cause, which remains under active investigation and is deemed suspicious," it said in a statement.
"Functional smoke alarms were found," it said.
Fifteen people were injured, according to the department. Twelve of them were treated and transported to the hospital, including two people who suffered moderate to serious injuries, it added.
"The injuries were predominately to the lower extremities from jumping out the second story, no burns," the statement said.
The 20-room hotel, which had 29 occupants at the time, lies a few streets north of the Port of Los Angeles in an area of auto shops, tire yards, and drop-in centers for the homeless and veterans.
One occupant, who gave his name as Manuel, told local KTLA 5 television he fled the building after hearing an alarm and other residents banging on his door.
"As we came out, there were people jumping out of the windows," he told the TV station. "They asked us to catch a little girl ... They dropped her down to us."
Los Angeles Fire Department Deputy Chief Daren Palacios told KTLA 5 firefighters arrived within three minutes of receiving a 911 call. They had to cut bars on some windows and contend with a metal fence that had become electrified by a live cable, he added.
Displaced, non-injured guests were being assisted by firefighters and the Los Angeles Red Cross, officials said.
(Reporting by Daniel Wallis in Denver; Editing by Susan Heavey)
A man was killed and 15 were injured when flames overtook a hotel early Thursday in Wilmington, forcing some people to jump out of windows.
People were trapped by flames inside the two-story Wilmington Hotel at 111 E. C St. shortly after 3 a.m. as firefighters arrived, said Erik Scott, spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Department.
Other hotel residents jumped out of windows to escape the flames.
"It was an unusual situation," LAFD spokesman Daniel Curry said. "You are not usually confronted with jumping people when you get on scene of the incident."
LAFD Deputy Chief Daren Palacios told KTLA that firefighters had to contend with several obstacles, including bars on the windows and several fences, before entering the building.
A downed power line added to the danger, he said. The power line electrified a fence and exposed firefighters to the risk of electric shock.
Once firefighters entered the building, he said, they found the body of a man.
Of the 29 people who were staying at the hotel, 15, including a child, were hurt and suffered minor to serious injuries, fire officials said.
Most of the injured suffered broken bones from jumping, fire officials said.
Alejandro Lopez, 40, said he was trapped inside his room and the intense flames left him with only one option: Jump out of the window.
He broke the window and leaped out of the hotel, landing on the ground.
Lopez said he was hurt and battered, but it could have been worse.
“My hands are broken… but I am glad to be alive,” he said.
The 20-unit hotel had functional smoke alarms, Scott said.
Arson investigators will work to determine the cause of the fire, officials said, and firefighters and the American Red Cross were assisting families who were displaced.
The uninjured residents were taken to a nearby community center.
For breaking news in California, follow @VeronicaRochaLA
Copyright © 2015, Los Angeles Times
6:35 a.m.: This post was updated with a witness' account.
7:29 a.m.: This post was updated with new information on the total of victims hurt and a comment from LAFD.
8:06 a.m.: This post was updated with new details about the victims' injuries.
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Several people jumped from the second story of a burning Los Angeles hotel to escape fast-moving flames early Thursday that killed one person and left 15 others with injuries including burns and broken bones, officials said.
Crews arriving to the blaze that broke out around 3 a.m. immediately had to go into rescue mode at the two-story residential hotel near the harbor, Capt. Daniel Curry said.
"We had people in the windows and starting to jump," Curry told KNX Radio. "The first thing we had to do was start throwing ladders at the building and pick people off the second floor."
Television footage showed flames shooting from windows and victims lying on the street and sidewalks.
A man staying on the first floor of the 20-unit building died at the scene, city fire spokesman Erik Scott said. Two people were hospitalized with injuries that were moderate to serious, 10 others went to hospitals with minor injuries, and three more were treated at the scene. A child about 8 years old was among those hurt, Scott said.
It took more than 100 firefighters about an hour to extinguish the blaze in Wilmington.
The Red Cross was providing assistance to more than 15 people displaced from the Wilmington Hotel in an industrial area just north of the Port of Los Angeles.
The cause of the fire was under investigation, but the hotel had functional smoke alarms, Scott said.
Officials did not immediately release an estimate of the damage.
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