[symple_googlemap title=”” location=”14800 block of Newport Avenue, Tustin, CA” height=”300″ zoom=”13″]
An inattentive husband trying to sterilize baby water bottles over a camp-like stove is partly to blame for a series of blazes at an apartment complex in Tustin that killed a dog and left four families seeking shelter elsewhere Thursday, an Orange County Fire Authority captain said.
The first blaze started about 1 p.m. Wednesday in the 14800 block of Newport Avenue on a propane-fueled hot plate placed on top of a piece of plywood over a a stove, according to Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Steve Concialdi. The husband, who was boiling the water bottles to sterilize them, left the stove unattended before the fire started, he added.
The residents managed to extinguish the blaze — or so they thought. About 6:40 p.m. Wednesday, the husband’s wife saw flames in the ceiling where the stove’s exhaust pipe leads, and the residents called firefighters, Concialdi said.
Firefighters managed to put the blaze out, but there was a lot of grease build-up, and investigators suspect an overlooked stray ember in the blown-in insulation of the attic led to a third fire this morning just before 4:40 a.m., Concialdi said.
The extra-alarm blaze torched three of the apartments in the building and left smoke damage to a fourth, Concialdi said. It took nearly an hour to get the fire under control, he added.
The blaze caused an estimated $300,000 in damage to the building and about $150,000 to its contents, Concialdi said.
Seven adults and the baby had to find shelter elsewhere. Orange County Animal Control took in 24 chickens from one residence as well as a cat from another, said Katie Ingram of OC Animal Control. The cat suffered some minor smoke inhalation, she added.
The chickens escaped injury and have been retrieved by their owner, Ingram said. Another cat appears to have run away and was lost, Ingram said.
Concialdi said residents should alert firefighters about any type of blaze, even if they managed to put it out themselves.
If that had been done in this case, it’s possible any other blazes might have been avoided, he said.
— City News Service