COUNCIL OKS FUNDS TO HELP THOSE LEFT HOMELESS IN FIRE.

Byline: Rick Orlov Staff Writer

As the investigation into a fatal fire at a Hollywood residential hotel continued Friday, the Los Angeles City Council approved $150,000 to provide relocation help to the 35 people left homeless after the devastating blaze.

At the same time, council members were told of a history of problems at the Palomar Hotel and the refusal of the owner to cooperate with officials as recently as July.

``We had to obtain an inspection warrant to see if repairs had been made,'' said Andrew Adelman, director of the Department of Building Services. ``He refused access to us.''

George Sellers, the attorney for hotel owner Juan Jose Ortiz, said past building violations had nothing to do with the fire.

Local and federal investigators were working Friday in an effort to determine the cause of the fire that roared through the 1920s-era building near Santa Monica and Western boulevards.

Two people died, including a woman who handed her children to firefighters before she fell to her death from a window on the fourth floor. Three firefighters also were hurt.

Fire Chief William Bamattre said the blaze, which broke out at 3:41 a.m. Thursday, might have been the result of an explosion that blew a hole through all four floors of the hotel, allowing the fire to spread quickly.

``It was a throwback to the old fires we used to have,'' Bamattre told the council, adding that safety procedures now in place saved some lives. ``Fifteen years ago we would have 20 or 30 fatalities instead of two.''

The relocation money authorized by the council will be $2,500 for individuals and $5,000 for families, Councilman Eric Garcetti said.

Garcetti said many of the people living in the hotel were recently homeless and in transition to finding permanent housing.

He said the fire showed the need for the city to do more about substandard housing.

``The city is actually doing a pretty darn good job now,'' Garcetti said. ``We're actually going after violators and getting a 98 percent conviction rate.

``But, we still have a culture and a judicial system where these crimes are not taken seriously. If we had burglaries going on every single day at a given home, we would crack down.''