Tag: burns

A former hotel in downtown L.A. whose name graced a 1970 Doors album — and where the band surreptitiously shot the record’s cover art — was badly burned in a fire Thursday morning, according to authorities.

The 110-year-old structure, the former Morrison Hotel, may most recently have been home to squatters.

More than 100 firefighters battled the fire, categorized as a major emergency incident, for nearly two hours with no injuries reported before the blaze was knocked down around 12:30 p.m., according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.

The four-story building, at 1246 S. Hope St., had no official occupants at the time of the blaze.

Several dozen individuals who appeared to be unhoused fled the building, however, when the fire broke out, and fire crews helped three additional individuals escape from the third floor using ladders, an LAFD spokesperson said.

It’s unclear whether squatters caused the blaze, which is under investigation by the Fire Department arson team.

“The smoke cloud was so close. We didn’t know where it was coming from,” said Faith Ronning, who lives in an apartment building across from the fire. “People in the neighboring buildings hustled outside with their pets and kids. I’ve never seen a fire that big up close like that.”

The building was built in 1914 and was made famous after it was featured on the Doors “Morrison Hotel” album in 1970.

Henry Diltz poses with a photo of his “Morrison Hotel” album cover photo in 2020 at the hotel at 1246 S. Hope St.

(Scott Dudelson / Getty Images )

Music photographer Henry Diltz took the cover shot in 1969. In a 2020 Facebook post marking the 50th anniversary of the album, he said the group had asked for permission to take a photo at the hotel but were denied. When the hotel clerk was away from the front desk, however, they slipped in and quickly got the well-known shot using just one roll of film. Featured front and center was the band’s legendary singer, Jim Morrison.

The building has a checkered history and record of unsafe living conditions. In the post, Diltz described the building as a “funky old sort of flop house” where a room could be had for $2.50 a night at the time of the 1969 shoot.

In 2004, around 40 tenants of the 111-unit building filed a lawsuit against the owners, accusing them of being slumlords.

Residents claimed they were exposed to leaky windows, mold and mildew on carpets and walls, exposed electrical wiring and other conditions that had made the hotel uninhabitable and a health risk. Blood tests found that children living in the building had elevated levels of lead from chipping and peeling paint.

The building was used for low-income housing until it was vacated in 2008, according to Urbanize L.A. In 2016, plans were initiated to transform the building into 444-room hotel with 136 luxury residential units.

But then, in 2022, the developer defaulted on a $13-million loan, and the AIDS Healthcare Foundation purchased the building with the intention of converting it into low-income housing, according to a news release from the foundation.

Representatives from the foundation told KCAL News on Thursday that unhoused individuals had been living in the building for the last several months.

“As soon as we secure the building, the homeless come up with power tools within hours and just cut the locks off,” Mark Dyer, vice president of operations for the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, told the station.

Times staff writer Julius Miller contributed to this report.