A fire at the Ebb Tide Motel in Ocean Beach stranded all 22 residents Tuesday, Feb. 21, at 10:45 a.m.
The hotel is located on West Point Loma Boulevard near Bacon Street.
The first of six San Diego Fire-Rescue Department vehicles”four engines and two trucks”arrived on the scene within four minutes. It took the 30-person crew15 minutes to knock down the main body of fires.
The blaze began after a wall heater malfunctioned, sending flames up the wall, into the attic and across the roof of the 14-unit building, said Maurice Luque, fire-rescue department spokesperson.
The fire gutted four of the 11 occupied units and partially damaged a fifth. Nonetheless, all tenants have been forced to seek alternative accommodations due to serious structural concerns.
“The owner of the motel had another motel where he could put these folks up,” Luque said.
However, many of the victims will require Red Cross assistance to replace personal belongings lost in the destroyed rooms. Residents whose units were largely unharmed collected their things with the help of firefighters later that day.
The motel structure sustained damages of $300,000; personal losses were estimated at $50,000, according to fire officials.