SANTA MONICA─Captain Patrick McNulty of the Santa Monica Fire Department indicated in a press release to Canyon News that firefighters battled a blaze near the Huntley Hotel on Sunday, December 22. At approximately 12:13 a.m. firefighters responded to the rear of the Huntley Hotel on 1111 2nd Street. Firefighters arrived in 7 minutes and 45 seconds and discovered several large trash bins completely engulfed in fire, and starting to spread to the 2nd, 3rd and 4th floor units of the hotel.
A total of 40 firefighters from the SMFD and Los Angeles Fire Department attacked the blaze from both the exterior and interior to bring the blaze under control. Officers from the Santa Monica Police Department worked quickly to assist with evacuating dozens of hotel guests to safety. The fire was kept from spreading throughout the interior of the building and was declared extinguished in approximately 30 minutes.
Most of the fire related damage was kept to the exterior of the building, with some fire damage to the balcony areas of the units above. Due to fire sprinkler activations in the affected units, there was significant water removal and property salvage efforts that firefighters under took on four floors.
One patient was treated by paramedics and transported to a local hospital listed in good condition. No injuries were reported to first responders. The fire started in an exterior trash dumpster in the alley that communicated to the interior of the hotel. The cause of the fire is currently under investigation by the joint SMFD/SMPD Arson Task Force. Anyone with information regarding the incident is asked to contact SMPD Detective Cooper at (310) 458-8478.
