A fire destroys the Morrison Hotel in Los Angeles, featured on the cover of The Doors' eponymous album

A major fire swept through the Hotel Morrison in Los Angeles, a historic symbol of the city and famous for being featured on the cover of the legendary album by the American rock band 'The Doors'.

The fire, which left no casualties, destroyed the facade of this historic building, now deemed uninhabitable, while authorities investigate the causes of the fire this Friday. The fire started on the fourth and top floor, and officials are assessing the structure to evaluate damages.

The fire occurred yesterday while occupied by dozens of homeless people, who evacuated the building on their own as soon as the flames erupted, according to a statement from the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD).

"As firefighters made their way through the building, they located three other people on the third floor. They evacuated the individuals to safety using ladders that the teams deployed at the fire exits," added LAFD.

Nearly a hundred firefighters were involved in the efforts to extinguish the flames, a task that lasted for more than two hours.

Images shared by local media show a large column of smoke billowing from inside the building, located in downtown Los Angeles, while several fire trucks surrounded the complex with water hoses trying to quench the fire.

Spanning nearly 4,600 square meters in an E-shape, the Hotel Morrison was built in 1914 and gained notoriety when it was photographed in 1970 for the fifth studio album of the rock band 'The Doors', of the same name.