ON Christmas evening, six people, including two who were severely burned, were hospitalized after a sudden fire ripped through a three-story residential motel in the Westlake area of Los Angeles, fire department officials said.
It took 100 firefighters at least 21 minutes to combat the flames at the JJ Park Motel on West Third Street, near MacArthur Park. Dozens were evacuated from the burning building around 6 pm after intense flames shot through a second-story unit, captured on cellphone videos.
The chaos forced residents to create their own means of escape, tying bedsheets together to climb or even jump out of the smoky apartments. Others used their own strength to hold up residents on their shoulders, creating a “human ladder” formation to quickly help people escape.
“Literally people were climbing out of the second story windows. They were tying bedsheets and lowering themselves down,” said Erik Scott, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Department. “And some other individuals along the back side of the building were literally making kind of a human ladder where they were climbing on top of each other’s shoulders to assist other people down.”
One person, a disabled elderly woman, had to be rescued, a video showed.
Five of the injured, between the ages of 28 and 73, were treated at the scene, and were taken to different hospitals, said Scott. Two victims suffered critical injuries from burns and smoke inhalation and were immediately hospitalized.
Firefighters credited a smoke alarm system for quickly alerting residents of the flames, which began about 6 pm on Dec. 25th.
Roughly 25 of the 135 units in the building were damaged from fire, smoke, and water, according to officials.
The cause of the motel fire is still being determined, though investigators believed it may have originated from a second-floor unit kitchen stove.
“While the cause of the fire appears to be accidental, the investigation will continue,” said Senior Arson Investigator David Liske. (With reports from Los Angeles Times, KTLA5)
(www.asianjournal.com)
(LA Weekend December 27-30, 2014 Sec. A pg.7)
