Mid-Wilshire Apartment Fire Kills One, Injures 20

A pre-dawn fire of suspicious origin raced up a stairwell in a four-story apartment building in the mid-Wilshire area early today, killing one man, injuring 20 others and routing 70 residents.

Some occupants jumped from the burning New Beverly Crest apartment building, and firefighters pulled at least 15 residents from windows. They also credited neighbors with saving at least two lives by rushing to the scene with a ladder.

The blaze caused about $200,000 damage to the 40-unit brick structure at 416 N. Oxford St., officials said.

The fire apparently started in the lobby of the building shortly before 6 a.m. The flames rolled up the stairwell to the attic, setting the roof ablaze, and then worked their way down through the fourth and third floors before a small army of firefighters succeeded in extinguishing the fire at 6:30 a.m.

Leg Broken in Jump

The first of nearly 100 firefighters to arrive radioed that residents--unable to use the front fire escape--were hanging out of windows on two sides of the building. One woman, according to Inspector Ed Reed, had already jumped and was found by firemen lying on a sidewalk with a broken leg.

A 60-year-old man was found on the fourth floor suffering from smoke inhalation and a possible heart attack, Deputy Chief Donald Anthony said. He was pronounced dead on arrival at Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital.

Anthony said that fire doors installed on all four floors prevented a worse disaster by keeping the flames from spreading to the main corridors. Solid-core fire doors have been required since 1970, when a fire at the Ponet Square Apartment House killed 19 people.

15 Go to Hospital

Seventeen occupants of the New Beverly Crest suffered injuries ranging from cuts to smoke inhalation and broken bones. Two were treated at the scene and 15 were taken to Brotman Memorial Hospital and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

Three city firefighters who were injured were reported in good condition. Two Valley College students who live across the street were credited with saving two lives by taking a couple out of a third-floor window.

Susan Chamberlain and Richard Arriaran, both 23, were awakened by Chamberlain’s mother, who was fearful that the fire might spread. The students ran outside where they saw Maria Sandoval standing on a third-story ledge.

“I shouted at her not to jump but apparently she doesn’t speak English,” said Chamberlain. Arriaran found a large extension ladder in a nearby yard and the two were able to raise it to the third floor by putting it on a lawn table. Sandoval and her husband, Jorge, 55, a restaurant employee, scrambled to safety.

The Red Cross said it was setting up an emergency housing shelter at the Oriental Mission Church at 424 N. Western Ave.