A fire that damaged a house in Santa Ana Friday killed two cats and displaced the home’s four human occupants, though without injuring them, authorities said.
Firefighters sent to the 900 block of South Diamond Street at 6:50 a.m. extinguished the flames in 21 minutes, said Capt. Steve Concialdi of the Orange County Fire Authority.
Authorities were investigating the cause of the fire, which began in the garage and spread to the residence. Neither the house nor the attached garage was equipped with smoke alarms, Concialdi said, adding that residents should have such early warning devices in both locations.
“Fortunately, the fire did not occur in the middle of the night,” Concialdi said. “The family was awake at the time, and they heard a crackling sound from the garage, and then smoke began entering the residence.”
A damage estimate was not immediately available, but the residence was “heavily damaged,” Concialdi said.