A man was killed and seven people were hurt Friday, including one in critical condition from injuries suffered in an “accidental” fire caused by a space heater that burned on both floors of the 28-unit Venice Hotel in the Mid City area of Los Angeles, authorities said.
Firefighters were called to the hotel at 8686 Venice Blvd., near Cattaraugus Avenue, just after 2 a.m. and discovered fire burning in several rooms, according to Brian Humphrey of the Los Angeles Fire Department. The blaze was later designated a greater-alarm fire.
“Fire investigators have determined the cause of the fire to be accidental, due to a space heater being too close to combustible materials,” Nicholas Prange, also of the LAFD, said in a statement late Friday morning.
A man died at the scene, and another man was hospitalized in critical condition. A man and a woman who had been hospitalized in grave condition later were upgraded to serious condition. A man was hospitalized in fair condition, and another man was treated at the scene for a minor injury. A woman was treated at a hospital for an unspecified injury. And a firefighter was treated for a “non-life-threatening” respiratory issue and was in fair condition, the LAFD reported.
Resident Narayana Cabral lived at the Venice Hotel for 19 years with his 60-year-old mother, who he said had to jump from a second-floor unit to safety when flames erupted.
“I got out the building, she was still stuck in there,” Cabral told NBC4. “I heard her screaming for me, so I ran around the building to try to get to her, (but) there was so much smoke, so she had to jump out the window. She hit the ground hard, pretty concussed, swollen eye. Then, I had to tear a fence down for her to be able to make it over, then, I made a barricade for her to climb over… and I drove her to the hospital and she was in a lot of pain.”
Cabral said his mother was hanging from a ledge, when her hands slipped and she landed on the sidewalk below.
The fire department has not confirmed the report the woman jumped to safety.
One person was declared dead at the scene.
A total of 105 firefighters extinguished the flames in 39 minutes and a knockdown was declared at 2:43 a.m., Humphrey said.
Traffic was routed around the area in the aftermath of the fire.