Retirement Home Fires Investigated : North Hollywood: City and state officials are looking into a series of blazes at the residence, which houses 75 people.

Five small fires over the past six weeks at a North Hollywood retirement home have prompted investigations by city fire and state social services officials and stepped-up security at the facility.

A woman resident suffered minor burns in one fire last month at the Villa Magnolia Retirement Hotel in the 10500 block of Magnolia Boulevard.

Georgeana Wickman, 69, suffered second- and third-degree burns to both her feet during a Jan 6 fire. She remains hospitalized in the burn center at Sherman Oaks Community Hospital, where she was listed in satisfactory condition Thursday.

Fire Capt. James Hall said the fires, which occurred between Dec. 23 and Monday, all began in the rooms of residents and were quickly doused by automatic sprinklers. Damages have been minor, limited to bedsheets, mattresses and carpets, officials said.

Hall said the cause of all five fires are under routine investigation. He would not say whether authorities believe the blazes were deliberately set or were accidental.

Kathleen Norris, a spokeswoman for state Department of Social Services, said an investigation is undertaken any time a fire occurs at a facility it has licensed.

“Our role is to monitor the appropriateness of a licensee to operate a business,” Norris said. She said the North Hollywood facility has been cited in the past for minor infractions, but that all were corrected quickly.

Saul Bernstein, Villa Magnolia’s administrator, said he has hired three additional employees to increase the security of the 14-year-old, two-story, 64-room residence, which houses 75 mostly elderly residents.

Bernstein said the facility will strictly enforce its ban on smoking in bedrooms and limit all smoking to an outdoor patio and a basement recreation room. Residents live in studio apartments with private bathrooms.

He said that while the fires have caused concern for some residents, most have been “sympathetic, understanding and helpful.”

“I’m not alarmed,” said Barbara O’Dessky, 57, who has lived in the facility for more than six years. “It’s just a little accident that happened. It’s nothing to be concerned about.”