Hotel Being Renovated for Seniors Burns Up

More than 150 firefighters battled a four-alarm blaze that lighted the pre-dawn sky in downtown San Diego Tuesday and destroyed the unoccupied New Palace Hotel, the Fire Department reported.

The fire prompted the evacuation of 43 residents of a nearby building.

The New Palace was being renovated for senior housing. It is owned by the San Diego Kind Corp., a nonprofit organization headed by Mavourneen O’Connor, twin sister of Mayor Maureen O’Connor.

Firefighters responding to a call at the 400 block of Elm Street at 1:55 a.m. found the three-story structure engulfed in flames, San Diego Fire Department spokesman Larry Stewart said. The fire ripped through the 100-room structure, leaving a wobbly concrete shell that was deemed unsafe Tuesday afternoon and scheduled for demolition.

“The amount of damage requires complete demolition, and we’ll take a little bit apart at a time to see what happened,” said Jeff Carle, captain of the Metro Arson Strike Team. It might take several days to determine the cause of the fire, he said.

Surveying the damage from atop a fire engine’s ladder suspended over the smoldering structure, Carle said the interior of the charred building would be off limits--even to fire investigators--until a demolition crew removes unstable debris.

“Nobody is going in until I know this thing is not going to come down on my head,” he said.

Upon arriving, firefighters evacuated eight transients from the burning structure. The transients were unhurt, but two firefighters were injured battling the blaze. They were treated at area hospitals and released.

Firefighters also evacuated neighboring Central Manor, a board-and-care home, and hosed its roof. Although it is only a few feet from the hotel, Central Manor was undamaged, Stewart said, and residents were permitted to return Tuesday morning.

The fire was contained within three hours.

Mavourneen O’Connor, reached by phone Tuesday afternoon, said the fire posed a serious setback to the renovation.

The project, partly funded by the state Department of Housing, was targeted for completion in September, 1990, O’Connor said. She was unable to estimate when work would resume on the senior center or when it will be completed.

O’Connor, grateful that most of the hotel’s tapestries and furniture had been removed for refurbishing, said she is determined to complete the project.

“We’re certainly going to give it an Irish try,” she said.