The former Morrison Hotel, made famous by The Doors and their 1970 album of the same name, was significantly damaged by a fire that erupted in downtown Los Angeles on Thursday. The four-story building, which has been officially vacant for more than a decade, burned for nearly two hours before more than 100 firefighters brought the flames under control, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. Though the building was formally unoccupied, several dozen people fled after the fire broke out, the Los Angeles Times reports. It's not clear whether the squatters caused the fire. No injuries were reported.
The Morrison Hotel was featured on the cover of The Doors' fifth album. Celebrated music photographer Henry Diltz made the image in 1969 and said years later that it took a little trickery to pull it off, the AP reports. 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, with legendary frontman Jim Morrison in the middle. He said that at the time, the hotel was a "funky old sort of flop house" with rooms for $2.50 a night, the Times reports.
The building, which dates from 1914, was vacated in 2008. After plans to renovate the building and turn it into a luxury hotel fell through, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation bought it in 2022, with plans to convert it to low-income housing. Diltz told CBS News that it was "very sad" to see the historic building go up in flames. "I hope somebody will rebuild it," he said. The building's roof collapsed, leaving its structural integrity in doubt, the fire department said. In recent years, the building had been used as a training site for firefighters.
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