Good Samaritans say child tossed from balcony to escape fire at Hollywood hotel: ‘We caught a baby’

A fire at a Hollywood hotel forced people, including a child, to jump from a second-floor balcony into the arms of good Samaritans, witnesses told NBC6.

Hollywood Fire Rescue said they responded to flames at the Hollywood Gateway Inn in the 2900 block of Polk Street at around 2:12 a.m.

Angel Ramirez had said his wife smelled something burning, and when she went to check, the alarm went off.

“We had to take off running, go door to door rescuing people, telling them to get out,” Ramirez recalled in Spanish from the safety of the parking lot. “There was even a baby of a few months from the second floor that had to be rescued, and they threw him… and the parents, we had to help rescue them because the fire and smoke up there, it was engulfed.”

Another guest, Wilson Rodriguez, said he and his family were visiting from Puerto Rico and staying at the hotel before a cruise on Saturday when the flames broke out. He had fallen asleep watching a movie when he heard pounding on his door.

“I saw all the smoke, and everybody was crazy, running around,” he said. “We started to knock on all the doors so everybody could come out, and we helped a lot of people come out while throwing the luggage from the top so it wouldn’t get burned… We got out OK.”

But even more precious than the belongings were the people who escaped with the the help of Rodriguez, Ramirez and others.

“We caught a baby,” he said. “Two ladies on the top, on the balcony, jumped, and we helped about seven people.”

He described that he caught the mother of the child, still in pijamas, who was uninjured. Ramirez, he said, caught the child.

Hollywood Fire Rescue confirmed that two people were “safely assisted from a second‑floor balcony and evaluated for smoke inhalation but declined transport.”

Two others were evaluated for minor injuries while evacuating the building, officials said.

Firefighters were able to put the fire out and the building was closed.

Ramirez said he was waiting to see if any of his stuff was lost.

“Thank God, we were able to all get out and we’re here,” he said. “Our belongings, money, we have it all in the room. Clothes, medicines, everything is in the rooms and we don’t know where we’re going to stay.”

Rodriguez said he smelled gas when the flames broke out, and that it was an air conditioner near an ice maker that caught fire.

Authorities have not confirmed the cause and say they are still investigating.