Redondo Beach Fire Department investigators have preliminarily determined that last Wednesday’s three-alarm fire at the Palos Verdes Inn was caused by a faulty air conditioning unit, according to Division Chief Mark Winter.
Firefighters arrived at the hotel, 1700 S. Pacific Coast Highway, just after 6 p.m. on June 17, Winter said, to combat the fire which had started on the hotel’s second floor, in room 211. The room had one person inside it when the fire began.
Employees of the hotel attempted to put out the fire with extinguishers and believed they had it contained, but they were ultimately unsuccessful. “When we got there, the room was fully involved,” Winter said. Firefighters were able to extinguish the fire within minutes, but spent more than five hours rescuing the hotel’s patrons.
“There were victims on the roof and in adjacent units that were sheltered in place until we got the fire knocked out, and they were escorted out of the building,” Winter said.
Two people were injured — the room’s occupant, who was treated at the scene; and a firefighter, who was taken to a local hospital with a minor injury, treated, and released shortly thereafter. Firefighters from El Segundo, Manhattan Beach, the City of Los Angeles and Los Angeles County assisted the Redondo Beach Fire Department at the scene.
Investigators believe that they have ruled out “pretty much everything” save for a faulty stand-alone air conditioning unit. “The occupant was in the room at the time, and the unit was functioning normally, running off in the corner of the room when it began to malfunction,” Winter said, noting that there appear to be no signs that the unit was tampered with.
The Palos Verdes Inn, which was built in 1956, has been at the center of some community controversy due to its part in the proposed Legado Redondo mixed-use project. As part of the redevelopment of the former Bristol Farms grocery store site, Legado proposed a remodel of the aging hotel. Now, they also have to add a fire door repair in the remodel after the scenario.
According to Legado spokesman Weston LaBarr, the fire has had no effect on plans related to the development, which will go before a public hearing of the Redondo Beach Planning Commission on July 16. Recent plans for the development indicated that Legado has downscaled residential spaces by 31 units, and increased commercial square footage since the most recent public hearing.
“There’s nothing that’s impacting the progress of the development,” LaBarr said.
