Fire Damages Lake Forest Home; Cat Missing

LAKE FOREST, CA -- A Lake Forest house sustained heavy damage Saturday in an early morning non-injury fire. A neighbor called firefighters about 5:30 a.m. to the burning house in the 21600 block of Queensbury Drive, Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Steve Concialdi said.

The neighbor broke down the front door and saved a cat, but could not go farther into the house, Concialdi said. A second cat was missing.

About 30 firefighters arrived at 5:35 a.m. and had the flames out at 6:13 a.m., he said.

There was no one inside the home when firefighters conducted their search.

Damage was estimated at $300,000 to the structure and $75,000 to contents, Concialdi said.

It could have been worse if firefighters had not moved furniture and wall photos into the middle of rooms and tossed waterproof canvas salvage covers on them, he said. They also saved an armoire containing jewelry and photos.

The couple who live in the house returned while firefighters were there, he said. The house was red-tagged as unsafe and the residents planned to stay with relatives.

--City News Service/Photo via Shutterstock