Firemen Put Out Dumpster Fire That Scorches 3 Floors of the Huntley Hotel

The Santa Monica Fire Dept. reports that it saved a 20 story hotel, the Huntley Hotel, from becoming fully engulfed in flames on Sunday afternoon. The fire started in the trash bins behind the hotel, and spread to the 3rd, 4th and 5th floors.

The press release from SMFD PIO Captain Patrick Nulty reads as follows:

On Sunday December 22nd, 2019 at approximately 12:13 a.m. Santa Monica Firefighters responded to the rear of 1111 2nd Street in the City of Santa Monica for a report of a fire behind the Huntley Hotel. Firefighters arrived in 7 minutes and 45 seconds and encountered several large trash bins completely involved in fire, and beginning to spread to the 2nd, 3rd and 4th floor units of the hotel.

40 Firefighters from the Santa Monica Fire Department and Los Angeles Fire Department aggressively attacked the fire from both the exterior and interior to bring the blaze under control. Santa Monica Police Officers worked quickly to assist with evacuating dozens of hotel guests to safety. The fire was kept from spreading throughout the interior of the hotel and was declared out in approximately 30 minutes. Most of the fire related damage was held 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 substantial water removal and property salvage efforts that firefighters under took on 4 floors.

One patient was treated by Paramedics and transported to a local hospital in good condition. No injuries were reported to first responders. The fire originated 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. If anyone has information regarding this incident, they are encouraged to contact SMPD Detective Cooper at (310) 458-8478.