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American Morning

Two Fatalities in Hollywood Hotel Fire

Aired August 16, 2001 - 10:24   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We told you earlier this morning about a fatal hotel fire in Hollywood.

Our Frank Buckley is now on the scene and brings us the latest -- Frank, hello.

FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Daryn.

Sadly here, two fatalities and five people injured in this major structural fire in Hollywood at Santa Monica Boulevard and Western. It began at about 3:41 this morning. Very dramatic pictures very early on that we can show you that firefighters encountered when they arrived on scene. Fire visible, smoke visible from the scene as they came upon this fire here in Hollywood.

I'd like to bring in a person who was inside the building when the fire began at 3:41 a.m. Pacific, Allan Skodowski.

Mr. Skodowski, can you tell us what it was like inside? What did you hear first?

ALLAN SKODOWSKI, PALOMAR HOTEL RESIDENT: The explosion. My plants falling on my head. I tried to get my door open and couldn't get my door open. The tenant in 32 pushed my door open. Got out of the hallway. Went to the fire escape. Everybody in the building was at that fire escape trying to go down. The ladder don't work, the free ladder doesn't work.

The firemen got here and started putting up ladders so we could all go down one at a time.

BUCKLEY: In the middle of the night when something like this happens, there's a great deal of confusion. Was it clear to you immediately that this was a fire? You say that there was an explosion and apparently there's indication inside of a massive explosion.

SKODOWSKI: It was smoke, smoke, smoke, smoke and a big bang. I mean it shook the whole building. My bed jumped off the floor, probably three feet off the floor.

BUCKLEY: And tell us about the attempt to escape. Was there, you say there was a problem with the actual escape ladder, the stairway mechanism? SKODOWSKI: The ladder on the fire escape didn't work. It didn't go down. Like you're supposed to stand on it and it's supposed to take you down. But it don't.

BUCKLEY: And so the firefighters were able to get the ladders up to you and that's how you escaped, is that right?

SKODOWSKI: Right.

BUCKLEY: OK, thanks very much, Mr. Skodowski.

SKODOWSKI: OK. Thank you.

BUCKLEY: I want to bring in Captain Steve Ruda, my old friend, from L.A. city fire. Tell us how many fire engines arrived here and what did they discover and tell us the extent of the damage they saw.

CAPT. STEVE RUDA, LOS ANGELES FIRE DEPARTMENT: Well, this was a worst case scenario for firefighters. As we're getting the alarms in our stations here in Hollywood, they're getting the reports of a major explosion with fire and jumpers. So that means we're getting as many people here as fast as possible. When firefighters from the Hollywood station got here on scene, the worst case scenario came true to them as they saw heavy fire on every floor of this four story apartment, motel, hotel here on Santa Monica and Western.

The firefighters were able to use their ladders, the aerial ladders. As you can see, they had every possible ladder to the building while other firefighters were going in to fight the interior fire.

In 20 years, I've talked with a lot of seasoned firefighters and they have never seen the devastation on the interior of a structure from a fire while they have been on the interior themselves trying to make rescues and fight fire. We're still much concerned now about the security of the building as far as the integrity. We've got urban search and rescue vehicles here to help shore up the building along with the building's safety.

Dramatic rescues here on the east side of the building as a woman was able to lower her two children to firefighters that were able to get to her. Unfortunately for her, she did not wait for the firefighters as they were taking the children down the ladder. They tried to tell her, to convince her to wait. She got off to the window, held on and then fell on the firefighters on the ladder and to her death on the streets below.

Inside we found another body of a female resident of the home. In all, we injured three firefighters, two with burns and one with a broken clavicle. And then we transported the two children to Children's Hospital here in the Hollywood area.

BUCKLEY: And those firefighters when they encountered this scene, this was the kind of thing where one firefighter was telling me normally you wouldn't send a firefighter into a building that was this fully involved except for the fact that it was full of residents. RUDA: Right. As I explained to you before, we have our priorities and priority number one for here was rescue. Firefighters will trade their life for a life anytime, trade their life for a building, we have that risk versus gain, that management that we've got to be able to see. But in this particular case, the risks had to overcome everything to get the people out of the building and we're very fortunate. Behind me just stands all the people that were evacuated, well over 30 people inside the building, almost 50 building. Just to have the two fatalities, and one could have lived if she would have just waited just that extra 10 seconds for firefighters to get back up that ladder after they'd taken her children down. But she heroically got her children out of the building and sacrificed her life in order that her children could live.

BUCKLEY: Captain Steve Ruda, thanks very much for that.

One of the things CNN has learned, that the owner of this building, Juan Ortiz (ph), in August of 2000 was ordered and pled guilty to no contest, pled no contest to slum violations ordered by the L.A. Superior Court Judge Sam Ohta to pay $8,100 and to make a number of corrective actions. We have talked to a couple of residents who've said that inside things were cleaned up. It was a significantly better building from the time that they were here. But again, that is part of the history of this building.

Frank Buckley, CNN, reporting live from Hollywood.

KAGAN: Frank, thank you very much for that report.

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