2 DIE IN PRE-DAWN FIRE OFFICIALS SEEK CAUSE OF HOLLYWOOD HOTEL TRAGEDY.

Byline: Orith Goldberg Staff Writer

HOLLYWOOD - With police treating the site as a crime scene, investigators searched charred wreckage for clues to what caused an early morning explosion and fire Thursday at a residential hotel that killed two residents and injured four firefighters and two children.

Investigators from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms joined Los Angeles police, fire and bomb squad investigators at the 50-unit residential Palomar Hotel at 5473 Santa Monica Blvd., where a pre-dawn explosion rocked the 1920s-era building and the resulting fire gutted it.

One person was believed to be missing, officials said, but sweeps of the smoldering wreckage by cadaver-seeking dogs were unsuccessful.

``Obviously, with the amount of fire we had plus the explosion, we're considering this a crime scene,'' said fire Capt. Steve Ruda.

Last August, building owner Juan Jose G. Ortiz, a San Fernando Valley resident, pleaded no contest to 10 fire, building and health violations in a case pressed by the city's slum housing task force, according to the City Attorney's Office.

``Because of the life and safety violations inspectors uncovered, our concern was a fire would jeopardize life and safety,'' said Deputy City Attorney Rubin Harsoyo, noting that violations included problems with sprinkler heads, inoperable and missing smoke detectors, and fire doors. ``Unfortunately that was realized today.''

Ortiz was sentenced to three years' probation, fined $8,100 and ordered to bring the building up to code.

George Sellers, Ortiz's Northridge-based attorney, said his client purchased the building in 1999 unaware of all of the violations, which he said were not mentioned in real estate documents. Sellers said Ortiz did all the appropriate work, but said city inspectors kept finding additional problems.

``All of the safety issues were complied with,'' said Sellers, adding that Ortiz had even begun to remodel the building.

``These kinds of violations don't have anything to do with what happened today,'' Sellers said. ``There's no relationship.''

But in March, the City Attorney's Office argued that Ortiz violated his probation by missing deadlines to fix the building and asked a judge to send him to jail.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Randolph Moore denied the request to incarcerate Moore, Harsoyo said. He said the judge agreed that code violations existed, but was satisfied that the defendant would remedy them.

Thursday's fire started at 3:41 a.m. with what 47-year-old resident Larry Vincent called a ``blunt boom'' that woke him.

``There was a big explosion ... my whole bed bounced,'' said Vincent, ``and my front door had blown completely off (its hinges).''

After a headboard from a room above his second-floor apartment came through the ceiling, Vincent ran out the door of his $360-a-month room in stocking feet after hastily pulling on some clothes.

He and others climbed out a window and went down a fire escape; Vincent said one shoeless woman had to be coaxed to climb down the metal rungs.

``I just said, 'Move! Move! Just go,''' said Vincent, who was at a temporary evacuation center set up at the Lemon Grove Recreation Center. ``I think I was in shock.''

The most dramatic rescue came as a mother saved her children before jumping from the fourth floor to her death.

Norma Galindo, 38, handed her 3 1/2-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter out a window to two firefighters, who were perched on ladders that didn't quite reach the window. Fire officials said Galindo, evidently trying to escape the smoke and flames, jumped to her death as a firefighter was on his way to try to save her.

``We had people hanging from windows and balconies, screaming for help,'' said Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey. ``To have saved the children and not reunite the children with their mother was devastating.''

The children were taken to Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, where they were reported in critical condition in the intensive care unit, suffering from smoke inhalation and first-degree burns. Both children were on respirators, said hospital spokeswoman Roberta Nichols.

A dead man found in a second-floor room was so badly burned he could not be identified Thursday. Coroner's officials said they would try to identify with either fingerprints or dental records.

The blaze lit up the night sky as 155 firefighters battled for 76 minutes to put it out. Officials said the fire became even more dangerous to firefighters as the building became unstable.

Two firefighters - 27-year-old Jeffrey Robles of San Pedro and 34- year-old Jared Bennett of Saugus - suffered second- and third-degree burns to 8 percent of their bodies while fighting the blaze.

The firefighters - taken to the Grossman Burn Center at Sherman Oaks Hospital - are expected to undergo a surgical procedure today to replace burned areas with donor skin, said nurse Helena SanMarco.

Firefighter Todd Shiraiwa suffered a broken clavicle after falling two stories from a staircase inside the building. He was treated at a hospital and released.

Fire Capt. Robert Greenhalgh strained his lower back. He was treated and released as well.

Officials were still attempting to determine the monetary damage to the hotel and the cause of the fire late Thursday.

The American Red Cross of Greater Los Angeles is accepting donations of money to help the fire victims. Call [phone] to make a donation to the Disaster Relief Fund or visit www.redcross-la.org.

CAPTION(S):

3 photos, map

Photo:

(1 -- color) Firefighters battle flames at the Palomar Hotel in Hollywood early Thursday. Two residents died, and two children and several firefighters were hurt.

(2) A firefighter helps a Palomar Hotel resident climb down a rescue ladder from an upper story.

Gene Blevins

Special to the Daily News

(3) Investigators confer near where a mother dropped her children to rescuers, then plunged to her death from the burning hotel.

Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer

Map:

Palomar Hotel fire