Two fires that ravaged abandoned hotel buildings in Desert Hot Springs and claimed the life of a woman last week are now under investigation to determine their cause or origin.
The woman's death was a consequence of the fires at the two vacant hotels and not suspicious in nature, according to Desert Hot Springs Police, The Desert Sun reported.
Detective Sgt. Christopher Saucier said this is not the first fire at the Sahara hotel, which homeless people frequent from time to time, according to the report. Among the two hotels, Sahara was the only one named. Saucier did not provide any additional information, and the investigation by Cal Fire and Desert Hot Springs Police is considered ongoing, according to a Twitter post from the Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department.
"Firefighters responded to multiple reports of an abandoned hotel on fire," the Twitter post said. "The first arriving engine reported 2 large hotel buildings each approximately 40% involved."
Flames had progressed substantially by the time the Cal Fire and Riverside County Fire Departments responded after receiving multiple reports of the incident on Thursday, March 23. Callers reported an abandoned hotel on fire at 6:39 a.m. at Five Street and Ocotillo Road, according to Twitter.
Working hard to get the flames under control, firefighters were able to knock the fire back in approximately an hour. Once the fire in one building was contained through firefighting efforts at 8 a.m., the second adjacent building followed suit just four minutes later.
According to a yahoo article, Interim City Manager Doria Wilms has reported that the Sahara Hotel & Spa and an adjacent vacant hotel are both the target of a planned demolition, and in fact, contractors were at the site Friday, the day after the fire. A previous fire had started the ball rolling on the demo plans, but this new event called for an emergency teardown, the article said.