14 Hurt, 80 Left Homeless by Hotel Fire

About 80 people were left homeless by an early morning fire that swept through a two-story apartment hotel in Boyle Heights in East Los Angeles, forcing some residents to jump from second-floor windows to escape the flames. Fourteen people were injured--four of them seriously--when the 5:44 a.m. blaze gutted the red-brick Brooklyn Hotel at 2420 E. Brooklyn Ave., causing an estimated $225,000 in damage, Los Angeles city fire officials said. Six firefighters were among the injured, suffering minor burns to the face, ears and arms when the water they poured on the flames turned into steam and “bit them,” Fire Inspector Ed Reed said. Firefighters from 15 engine companies extinguished the flames in about 35 minutes. The blaze apparently broke out in the hallway of the second floor and quickly engulfed the building.