Multiple House Fires In Orange County During Strong Santa Anas

WESTMINSTER, CA - In a week of red flag warnings, with Santa Ana winds gusting across Orange County, a series of house fires plagued Westminster over 24-hours, according to Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Tony Bommarito.

The fires began late Monday with a garage fire in the 8900 block of Neptune. Orange County Fire Authority, supported by Costa Mesa, Fountain Valley, and Huntington Beach engines arrived to discover a home fully aflame.

"Due to the amount of fire, the attack was primarily from the exterior of the home," Bommarito said.

One person was taken to the hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation in that event but was expected to recover fully. The cause of that fire is unknown.

On Tuesday morning, OCFA responded to a second Westminster house fire, this time on the 9800 block of Cheshire. According to reports, the incident began inside the garage of the home, Bommarito said.

Battling this house fire was compounded by the gusting Santa Ana winds that were howling through the region.

As firefighters climbed outside the home with ladders, heavy smoke poured from an upstairs window. Bright orange flames licked the roof of the house as OCFA reconsidered their attack. Within an hour, firefighters had the situation under control, Bommarito said.

The Cheshire blaze displaced two adults and two children, but no one was injured, Bommarito told us. "This fire began due to a hot plate in the garage," he said.

Later Tuesday afternoon, a third house fire broke out in the area of Bolsa and Brookhurst, on Green Fern Circle. This fire began at approximately 1 p.m. at home on the 10000 block of Green Fern Circle when a tree sparked in flames, potentially due to downed power lines, Bommarito said.

¨The tree caught the two-story home on fire," he said. The first arriving units quickly extinguished the fire and rescued a dog.

No one was injured, and the puppy was doing fine, he said.

The cause of all fires is currently under investigation.

Patch has reached out to SoCal Edison regarding outages in the area at the time of the fires.

OCFA Photo