A fire at the Hollywood Gateway Inn in the 2900 block of Polk Street forced guests to jump from a second-floor balcony into the arms of good Samaritans, with witnesses helping rescue an infant and multiple people at 2:12 a.m. Hollywood Fire Rescue responded to the flames as guests fled the building and assisted others in evacuating. Two people were safely assisted from a second-floor balcony and evaluated for smoke inhalation but declined transport, while two others were evaluated for minor injuries during the evacuation.
“We had to take off running, go door to door rescuing people, telling them to get out,” said Angel Ramirez, whose wife first smelled something burning before the alarm sounded. “There was even a baby of a few months from the second floor that had to be rescued, and they threw him… and the parents, we had to help rescue them because the fire and smoke up there, it was engulfed.” Ramirez caught the infant while other guests helped rescue the parents from the second floor.
Wilson Rodriguez, visiting from Puerto Rico with his family before a Saturday cruise, was awakened by pounding on his door while watching a movie. “I saw all the smoke, and everybody was crazy, running around,” Rodriguez said. “We started to knock on all the doors so everybody could come out, and we helped a lot of people come out while throwing the luggage from the top so it wouldn’t get burned… We got out OK.” Rodriguez described helping seven people escape the building during the emergency.
“We caught a baby,” Rodriguez said. “Two ladies on the top, on the balcony, jumped, and we helped about seven people.” He described catching the mother of the child, who was still in pajamas and uninjured, while Ramirez caught the infant. The guests worked together to help multiple people escape from the second-floor balcony as smoke and flames engulfed the upper level of the hotel.
Firefighters were able to extinguish the blaze at the Hollywood Gateway Inn, though the extent of damage to the building was not immediately available. The cause of the fire remains under investigation by Hollywood Fire Rescue officials. All guests who were evaluated for injuries or smoke inhalation were treated at the scene, with no one requiring transport to area hospitals.