The Morrison Hotel, the famous backdrop for The Doors’ 1970 album named after it, was destroyed by a huge fire Thursday while being occupied by dozens of homeless squatters.
Almost 100 firefighters worked for at least two hours from 11 a.m. to control the fire at the downtown Los Angeles hotel best known for being on the cover of the legendary rock album.
The blaze destroyed the roof of the building now red-tagged as being unlivable.
Henry Diltz, the photographer who shot the album cover, said he was “very sad” to see the landmark so badly damaged, telling CBS News Los Angeles: “I hope somebody will rebuild it.”
Soon after the alarm was raised, several dozen homeless people fled the building — and fire crews rescued three others from the third floor using ladders, a fire department spokesperson told the Los Angeles Times. No one was injured.
Investigators are still looking into whether the squatters may have caused the blaze, according to Fox 11
But the homeless people squatting there have been a constant problem for its current owners, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, a nonprofit that bought the building in 2022 for almost $12 million to transform it into affordable housing.
“Last week when we cleared the building, there were about 15 [homeless people inside],” said Mark Dyer of the foundation.
“As soon as we secure the building, the homeless come up with power tools within hours and just cut the locks off,” he told Fox 11.
The building was previously used as low-income housing until it was vacated in 2008, and had not had any official residents for almost 10 years. A previous plan to turn it into a luxury hotel was nixed when a developer defaulted on a loan, the LA Times said.
“I personally have never seen a big fire like that,” nearby business owner Juan Jose Gutierrez told Fox11.
[The affordable housing] would have been nice for the community, but unfortunately, the building is no more.”
The iconic image of The Doors looking through a window of the hotel almost never happened, Diltz, the photographer, has previously said.
A hotel clerk told the band they weren’t allowed to take photos inside, but when the clerk stepped away, the group ran into the lobby and Diltz quickly got the photo looking through the window.
The image — with legendary frontman Jim Morrison in the middle by a sign advertising room for just $2.50 — graced the cover of the band’s fifth album, “Morrison Hotel.”
Morrison would release one final album with the band, “L.A. Woman,” before he was found dead in a Paris bathtub on July 3, 1971.
With Post wires
