Penthouse Fire Forces Evacuation at 16-Story Luxury Westside Hotel

Guests fled to the rainy streets and smoke billowed from the rooftop as a penthouse fire forced the partial evacuation of one of Westwood’s priciest luxury hotels Thursday night.

There were no serious injuries in the fire, which erupted at 6:35 p.m. in a four-room suite at the top of the 16-story Westwood Marquis Hotel, Fire Department spokesman Jim Wells said.

But Wells said two people suffering from smoke inhalation and a third with chest pains were taken to UCLA Medical Center.

Fire officials said it was unclear what caused the fire, which took less than 40 minutes to extinguish. But hotel officials said they were told by a woman who was staying in the 16th-floor suite that she had seen electrical sparks flying shortly before her bedspread caught fire.

Assistant Fire Chief Jim Young said the blaze would have been out much more quickly if the building had sprinklers. Because there were none, he said, firefighters had to climb stairs past a coursing crowd of evacuees and kick in several doors before they located the blaze on the 16th floor.

Young said hotels are exempt from the city’s sprinkler ordinance, and the building--a converted UCLA dormitory--was never equipped with them.

Also hampering the effort, he said, was the steady downpour that drenched the Westside all evening, tangling traffic and slowing more than 100 firefighters who responded to the call.

As hotel officials sought to restore power and order to the establishment Thursday night, scores of confused and angry guests huddled behind yellow police tape in the marble-floored lobby. The hotel, in the 900 block of South Hilgard Avenue, is a favorite among film and recording stars, and actor Raul Julia was seen in the milling crowd.

Julia had no comment. But other guests were more vocal, complaining that despite persistent calls to the front desk they were not sure the fire alarms were not a drill until smoke began to fill the halls.

“It was pretty scary,” said Charles Banks, an Atlanta businessman who was in Room 1616 watching the NCAA basketball playoffs when the fire alarm rang. A call to the front desk yielded only instructions to stay put while they investigated, he said, but when he opened his door he “couldn’t see a thing” through the black smoke.

“I hope to tell you, I walked down from the 14th floor with a bad hip,” said Betty Overmyer of Huntington Beach. “We thought we had picked a real good hotel. Next time I’m staying at the Motel 6.”

Mark Rosenthal, vice president of Raleigh Enterprises, which owns the Westwood and the Sunset Marquis, said hotel employees had in fact begun evacuating the building but were told by firefighters it would not be necessary.

As firefighters mopped up the smoke and water damage, free drinks were passed out to guests.

And some matters continued apace. As the firetrucks pulled away and the crowd began to disperse, a courier named Chris mopped his brow. Despite fire and rain and a blockade of public safety crews, he had done his duty:

“I just made delivery of a script,” he said.

Staff writers Mathis Chazanov, Nieson Himmel, Shawn Hubler and Greg Krikorian contributed to this report.