'Morrison Hotel' made famous by The Doors burns down in downtown LA
LOS ANGELES - Firefighters are investigating to determine if homeless people are responsible for a large fire that destroyed the historic Morrison Hotel Thursday in downtown Los Angeles. The former hotel, located at the intersection of Pico and Hope, has been vacant for about 10 years.
Around 11:20 a.m., more than 100 firefighters from the Los Angeles Fire Department were called to the four-story, nearly 100-year-old building that was erupting in massive flames. Cellphone video shared with FOX 11 shows at least one person trying to leave the property on an outside fire escape.
Although the building is vacant, fire officials said there were some homeless people in the structure, and ladders were raised to the building's windows to help them exit.
"In the fire department, we say there are no vacant buildings in the City of Los Angeles," said David Ortiz from LAFD. "A lot of the large, unhoused community uses these vacant buildings as their temporary residences. Several dozen [today] were seen self-evacuating at the time of the fire."
The fire department classified the incident as a major emergency, deploying 17 fire companies to the scene. The fire was knocked down within an hour and a half. No major injuries were reported to civilians or firefighters.
The Doors rock band made the Morrison Hotel famous with their 1970s album also called "The Morrison Hotel." The building itself was built in 1914 and is considered a landmark. Last year, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation purchased the property for almost $12 million with plans of transforming it into affordable housing.
"It’s been vacant for probably 10 years," said Mark Dyer from the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. "We were going to renovate it and create another 111 units."
According to Dyer, he had complained to the city about homeless people breaking into the Morrison. Dyer says he worried about a possible fire. "Last week when we cleared the building, there were about 15 [homeless people inside]," said Dyer. "As soon as we secure the building, the homeless come up with power tools within hours and just cut the locks off."
The historic hotel now has no roof and has been "red-tagged" by the city. It’s considered unlivable. East and west traffic on Pico Boulevard was temporarily closed, and officials advised drivers to avoid Pico and Hope in the downtown area.
"It was just a big fire," said Juan Jose Gutierrez, a nearby business owner. "I personally have never seen a big fire like that. [The affordable housing] would have been nice for the community, but unfortunately, the building is no more."