Huge fire burns at boarded-up downtown L.A. building with ‘potential for collapse’ The iconic building has been empty since its owners left in 2016
By John Kelly
Thursday, June 14, 2015
As dusk falls on downtown Los Angeles, the building that housed the city’s oldest continuously operated department store has been consumed by a nearly one-acre fire, leaving behind more than $100 million in damage and a potentially volatile structure.
The fire began about 12:35 a.m. Wednesday at the St. Regis Hotel, which was the headquarters of the Pasadena Star-News (now the Pasadena Star-News & General News), and a popular place used by the city’s politicians to stay during their city council meetings downtown at the Municipal Building.
A large blaze in the lobby of St. Regis Hotel in downtown Los Angeles after the structure caught fire. (Los Angeles Fire Department)
Around 12:55 a.m., a call was placed to 911 from an employee in the lobby of the building, who reported a “blaze burning in the lobby.”
By 1:35 a.m., firefighters were on the scene and the blaze was under control, but left it to spread.
By 2:15 a.m., the fire had spread to the interior of the lobby.
At 2:40 a.m., the St. Regis Hotel was declared safe after the fire was doused. The fire also had damaged the front door and damaged one of the hotel’s restrooms.
Firefighters had found a “smoking-hot” hallway with “potential for collapse” and were shutting it down.
The St. Regis is part of the St. Regis chain founded in the late 1800s and one of the oldest continuously operated department stores in the world.
“This is a very difficult day to be a businessperson and community leader, but we are all in this together