LA’s Morrison Hotel, where The Doors captured the cover photo for their namesake fifth studio album, has been ‘destroyed’ in a fire. Photo Credit: Henry Diltz
Los Angeles’ famous Morrison Hotel – featured on the cover of The Doors’ namesake fifth album – has been “destroyed” in a fire.
That’s according to the official report from the Los Angeles Fire Department, which recapped that it’d responded to the related call yesterday morning. Though firefighters initially observed “light smoke” at the nearly 111-year-old building, they proceeded to identify “heavy fire on the fourth floor” of the structure, per the report.
Those “well-developed” flames quickly spread to the roof and prompted a “decision to move to a defensive operation.”
As described by the LAFD, after several dozen homeless individuals “self-evacuated” and others yet were helped out of the building, north of 100 firefighters spent 97 minutes extinguishing the blaze, which didn’t damage or spread to nearby structures.
Meanwhile, there’s “an active investigation into the cause of the fire,” the LAFD relayed, with no injuries reported thus far. But as firefighters were unable to determine that the building had been completely evacuated, a recovery team is expected to search for remains once it’s safe to do so.
Multiple videos of the fire are circulating on social media, but perhaps the clearest footage looks to have come from the LAFD itself.
Though vacant for over 15 years – and a “frequent training site” of the LAFD – the Morrison Hotel had been discussed as one component of a far-reaching restoration and redevelopment plan, per local coverage.
Amid the ongoing revitalization of surrounding blocks, this plan would have involved overhauling the historic building, constructing an adjacent structure, and more, the DTLA Alliance website shows.
At the time of writing, Doors members John Densmore and Robby Krieger didn’t appear to have commented on the fire on social media. However, 78-year-old Krieger did showcase several of his Jim Morrison paintings on Instagram this afternoon and is set to deliver a benefit concert on January 4th.