By Daily Press staff
Fire destroyed a small, unoccupied guesthouse Saturday morning.
The Santa Monica Fire Department was called to the 1700 block of Franklin Street at about 5:45 a.m. Saturday when thirty-foot high flames shot out of the roof of the building, knocking down an overhead electrical line.
The blaze completely destroyed the building and cut power to the main building, which was untouched by the fire.
Nearby apartment complexes also were not damaged by smoke or fire, though electricity was not restored to the main house until Sunday evening.
Inside the charred building, the walls and most of the ceiling were destroyed or missing entirely. Plastic trash bins and children’s toys were strewn-about, melted and deformed. And even by Friday morning, the smell of smoke and freshly burned building materials hung in the air.
A total of 27 firefighters from and a paramedic unit responded to the incident and the fire was officially ruled out by 6:01 a.m. Fire department investigators have not determined the cause of the blaze. And fire officials did not have an estimate for the value of the guest house.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 7, 2002. Read the original PDF.