One Resident Injured : 2-Alarm Fire Races Through Vista Hotel

A two-alarm fire apparently caused by a cigarette raced through a hotel early Sunday, leaving one resident seriously injured and forcing dozens of others to flee for their safety, including some who jumped from second-floor windows to escape the blaze.

Investigators believe that the fire began accidently when an intoxicated resident of the Hotel Rose Villa dropped a cigarette or other smoking material in a downstairs lobby chair after falling asleep, said Paul Dawson, assistant fire marshal for the Vista Fire Department. The blaze smoldered in the chair for more than an hour before erupting shortly before 2 a.m. and quickly spreading through the wood-frame, two-story hotel, Dawson said.

Fleeing residents frantically used blankets and other means in an effort to douse the fire that engulfed the dazed occupant of the chair, Lorenzo De la Cruz, 26, described by authorities as an undocumented alien from Mexico.

De la Cruz, who suffered second- and third-degree burns on his face, neck, back, hands and arms, was taken by Life Flight helicopter to the burn unit at the UC San Diego Medical Center, where he was listed in critical but stable condition. Several witnesses said that De la Cruz appeared to have been drinking, Dawson said.

Three other residents suffered minor injuries when they jumped about 12 feet from the hotel’s second-floor windows after flames raced up the stairways and blocked their path of escape. They were examined at Palomar Hospital and released, authorities said.

One other resident was treated for smoke inhalation at Tri-City Hospital and released.

The hotel smoke alarms that awakened many residents were credited with saving lives. “Without them, I’m afraid we may have had some fatalities,” said Dawson, who noted that Vista authorities had been concerned about fire hazards at the 1940’s-era Hotel Rose Villa and several other older downtown buildings.

The Red Cross was arranging shelter for about 50 people left homeless by the fire.

The fire, which gutted the building at 529 S. Santa Fe Ave., was estimated to have caused $200,000 in damage. City building inspectors will decide whether the building can be salvaged or must be torn down, Dawson said. He said the hotel was insured.