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Historic Hollywood Center Motel burns in Sunday fire

A firefighter in full protective gear stands atop a fire engine at night, holding a long-handled tool, as smoke billows from a burning building in the background.
A Los Angeles Fire Department firefighter works the scene of the Hollywood Center Motel, which burned down early Sunday.
(
Los Angeles Fire Department
)

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Topline:

Flames tore through the historic Hollywood Center Motel early Sunday, burning down the vacant structure on Sunset Boulevard.

How it started: The cause of the fire is unknown, but the Los Angeles Fire Department said in a news release that arson investigators are on the case. The LAFD said the fire was reported at 4:30 a.m. Sunday. It took 70 firefighters more than an hour to knock down the fire. No firefighters were injured. One person had to be rescued from the building's roof. The 42-year-old man was treated for a minor injury.

The backstory: The building has been empty and boarded up in recent years, but it has been a filming location for several movies, including the 1997 drama L.A. Confidential.

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