Crime & Safety

Christmas Tree Fire Forces Evacuation at Newport Beach Highrise Hotel

A fire on the 11th floor of the Island Hotel on Newport Center Drive forced guests onto the curb in their pajamas early Sunday.

Guests at a Newport Beach highrise hotel got an early morning scare Sunday when a Christmas Tree in an 11th story room caught fire, prompting a hotelwide evacuation.

Three people were injured with two transported to a nearby hospital.

The fire began at about 3:44 a.m. at the Island Hotel located at 690 Newport Center Drive, according to the Newport Beach Fire Department.

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Firefighters discovered smoke coming from the 11th floor.

“Firefighters and hotel staff quickly initiated evacuations of hotel occupants, while other firefighters searched for the source of the smoke,” a department spokesperson said in a written release. “Fire crews located the source of the smoke coming from an ornamental plant. Crews quickly extinguished the smoldering fire and began removing smoke.”

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Guests, many with blankets or towels wrapped around them as they stood outside in frigid temperatures waited as firefighters cleared the smoke and got elevators up and running again.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, and the estimated damage to the interior of the building is $5000, according to the fire department.

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