Ventura Inn fire leaves one woman dead
VENTURA, Calif. – A fire at the historic residential Ventura Inn on Main Street left one woman dead Sunday morning.
Residents said they smelled smoke and saw flames coming from a third story apartment window before 10 a.m.
"I was fortunate enough to survive the fire one person didn't, I live on the fifth floor. It is a great old building and it started, we don't know why yet, it was problems with the parking only because of the barricades that needed to be moved to get access for all the engines," said fifth story resident Troy Cotner.
Cotner said he wishes the city would re-open the downtown are, but in January the city council voted to keep the closure.
Battalion Chied Shawn Hughes said the barricades did not pose a problem or slow their response time.
"The barricades are something the fire department knows are there, we have keys to make access and the firefighters responded completely appropriately," said Hughes.
Ventura City Firefighters said they responded in 4 minutes.
"We had firefighters that came down through California and also through the barricades to our south.," said Hughes, "We have key access and it is a quick lock pad that we open and we opened the gates for everyone to drive through."
A vertical water system in the building, known as a standpipe, helped Ventura, Ventura County and Oxnard crews keep the flames from spreading.
Firefighters took part in a big late night drill last May in the same area.
"Any large building that is highly occupied can be difficult and there's a lot of challenges, but like I said we have been training."
Some people slept or stayed awake in the lobby overnight, others spent the night in a Red Cross Shelter set up just for them.
"It is always shocking to have any fatality right ,and so here at the Red Cross we just want to be there, be there in there time of need," said Disaster Program Manager Kaytlin Crough," and how we do that is by having the shelter open by having our volunteers ready to go and responding to the scene and being there for our clients."
Firefighters found the women's remains. Her identity has not yet been released.
One firefighter was treated for minor injuries.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
The Inn that used be a hotel was built in 1926.
It is located at 487 Main St., is above The Calico Cat Bookshop, just down the hill from Ventura City Hall.
It is also across the street from the large red photo opp heart and the temporary stage on the corner of California and Main Streets.
The Ventura City Fire Department searched 94 rooms.
They said 10 residents were medically evaluated at the scene, but no residents needed to be transported for further treatment.
Residents were cleared to reenter most of the hotel after the fire except for one whole floor and a small portion of another floor explained the Ventura City Fire Department.
Your News Channel will have more information as soon as it becomes available.
