Two Residential Fires on Larkwood Extinguished

Firefighters are investigating what caused a blaze that damaged the siding and attics of two Lake Forest homes Monday afternoon.

A family of five in one home, and a woman and her grandson in the other, escaped unharmed.

At 2:25 p.m., the Orange County Fire Authority received a call about a 2-alarm fire at 24151 Larkwood Lane, said Battalion Chief Roger James. By 2:34, the fire had been knocked down and firefighters began searching for any secondary, unseen burning.

While an investigation into the cause is pending, James said it appeared the fire may have started between the two homes, 24171 Larkwood and 24161 Larkwood.

Bette Keelan, a resident of 24161 Larkwood, said that she had just laid down with her toddler grandson for a nap when she heard some popping noises nearby. When she went to look out her bedroom window, she saw flames outside. She grabbed her grandson and purse and ran out of the house.

Jose Vasquez, 24, a resident of 24171 Larkwood—which appeared to have sustained more damage from the fire—said that he and his mother, father and two siblings got out of the home without injury. He said he didn't know what might have caused the fire.

Sophie Smith, who lives directly across the street from the homes that caught fire, said that the fire was intense, shooting up the side of the chimney on the home where Vasquez lives.

She and other neighbors grabbed hoses to fight the fire, she said. She also brought a fire extinguisher out from her home.

Jake Kalin, a 16-year-old member of the Orange County Fire Authority's Explorer Program, and Kyle Mooney, 17, said they had been driving by on Los Alisos Boulevard when they saw the smoke and came by to investigate. Kalin took Smith's fire extinguisher and used it fight the flames on a burning side-yard fence, possibly preventing the flames from reaching the front of one of the houses, Kalin and Smith said.

Kalin's efforts made a difference, James said, as firefighters could tell by the color of the smoke that some of the blaze had been already been doused by the time they came on scene.