Fire Destroys Historic Hollywood Motel

Early Sunday morning, a massive fire consumed a 120-year-old motel in Hollywood, known for its role in the film “LA Confidential.” A man trapped inside made a daring escape by breaking a window, according to officials.

The fire ignited on the first and second floors around 4:30 a.m., ruining the once-prominent Hollywood Center Motel, as reported by the Los Angeles Fire Department. This motel was famous among rock legends like Neil Young and was blemished by a notorious murder in 1986.

Upon arrival, firefighters found a 42-year-old man stuck inside, calling for help. He bravely smashed a window and climbed down a ladder to escape to safety, the department shared in a statement.

Reportedly, the man, who might have been homeless, sustained minor arm injuries but thankfully wasn’t burned.

Firefighters battled the blaze for about an hour and twelve minutes in what was a boarded-up structure. The motel had weathered earthquakes, floods, and riots in the past but has now been demolished, according to LAFD officials.

The cause of the fire remains unknown and is still under investigation.

The Sunset Boulevard Motel dates back to 1905 and is noted by the Hollywood Heritage Museum as “one of the last remaining pre-consolidation Hollywood mansions on a major thoroughfare,” built before the area officially became part of Los Angeles in 1910.

Over the years, the motel fell into neglect and earned a less-than-stellar reputation, highlighted by a gruesome discovery in 1986 when a corpse was found stuffed in a trunk among its 23 rooms.

The museum described the destruction of the building, which had been closed since 2018, as a significant loss. This fire coincidentally occurred just weeks after the Heritage Commission nominated the site for potential landmark status.