Wilmington hotel fire appears suspicious, investigators say

WILMINGTON, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A fast-moving fire at a Wilmington hotel that forced people to jump from the second story building appears to be suspicious, investigators said.

One person was killed and 15 others were injured in the blaze, which erupted at 3:13 a.m. at Wilmington Hotel in the corner of Avalon Boulevard and C Street.

The first crews arrived on scene three minutes later.

"When they arrived, they had a significant fire, they had people jumping out of windows," said a firefighter on scene.

Firefighters say the rapid spreading of the fire is raising some red flags. Arson investigators were called to the scene.

According to fire officials, the person who died, described as an adult male, lived on the first floor. The hotel is also used as extended-stay residences.

Of the injured, two people suffered serious injuries. The injured included two children. One of the children was tossed from a window and caught down below safely.

"He was asking me if I could catch his granddaughter that he was gonna be letting go. I told him yes, and me and another gentleman caught her as they dropped her from the window," resident Manuel Sanchez said.

Officials say most of the victims suffered injuries after jumping from the building to escape the flames.

Resident Paul Gordon says his smoke detector woke him up. Having lost his right arm to cancer, he struggled to save himself.

"I opened the door, flames just came in, just rushed into my room. So I was able to close the door and go out the window. And this is all I got," said Gordon, who made it out with just the clothes on his back.

Fire officials said the blaze was knocked down around 4:30 a.m.

Two hours after the fire ignited, a small explosion injured one firefighter. He was treated on scene and is expected to be OK.

The Los Angeles Fire Department tweeted that the motel does have functional fire alarms and that there were 29 occupants in the motel's 20 units.

The American Red Cross is aiding those displaced by the fire.

The cause of the fire was under investigation by the Los Angeles fire and police departments.