SAN PEDRO (CBSLA.com) — More than a dozen people were injured early Tuesday morning when a fire broke out at a residential hotel in San Pedro.

The fire was sparked around 3:30 a.m. at a two-story building in the 1000 block of South Palos Verdes Street, Erik Scott of the Los Angeles Fire Department said.

KNX 1070′s Pete Demetriou reports a fire unit, which was driving through the neighborhood, spotted the blaze before it was called in to 911.

“The first units on scene observed a number of the residents occupying second floor windows, ready to jump. We actually did have one individual jump,” Deputy Chief Mario Rueda said.

At least 14 people were injured in the fire, officials said. Paramedics transported twelve people to a local hospital, three of whom were in critical condition.

It took 150 firefighters 34 minutes to extinguish the fire.

The approximately 30 unharmed occupants were provided temporary shelter by a MTA bus before the American Red Cross responded.

The cause is under investigation, but officials say the fire appears to have started in a rear unit.

LAFD PIO Capt. Jaime Moore said the fire “is being treated as criminal in nature.”

No firefighters were seriously injured.

The 14-unit building was built in 1923.