Local News in Brief : Abandoned Hotel on Golden Mall Burns

A fire raced through the top floor and roof of an abandoned Burbank hotel before it was extinguished early Tuesday, the Burbank Fire Department said.

The fire was reported at the 3-story Addison Hotel in the 200 block of North Golden Mall about 11:30 p.m. Monday. It took more than 50 firefighters about 3 hours to put it out, Capt. Lynn Johnson said. He estimated there was about $325,000 in damage.

The 65-year-old residential hotel was closed Oct. 17 after 44 tenants were moved. The structure was scheduled to be demolished early next year, officials said.

The source of the fire was unknown, but investigators labeled it suspicious. There was no electrical power in the building, which was reported to be empty, Johnson said.

“They think it may be arson,” Johnson said of the investigators. “Through a process of elimination, we haven’t been able to find a natural cause for the fire.”

While doors and windows of the building were boarded up, officials said they suspected that area transients may have been using the hotel as a place to sleep and could have been responsible for the fire.

No victims were found when firefighters searched the building after the blaze, Johnson said.