Christmas Lights, Fireplace Believed at Fault : Fires Force Two Families From Homes

Firefighters and Red Cross volunteers were kept busy when a short circuitand a hot gas pipe caused separate fires that burned two families out of their homes Monday night, authorities said. There were no injuries.

In Garden Grove, a short-circuit in the wiring for Christmas tree lights started a fire in the living room of Jeff and Susan Presnell. The fire spread through their apartment.

The four members of the Richard Croft family, meanwhile, lost the entire top story of their two-story Fountain Valley home when a gas pipe to a fireplace overheated and ignited wall studs.

The fire at 12605 Kensington Lane in Garden Grove started about 7:45 p.m., said Capt. Paul Christman of the Garden Grove Fire Department.

The fire then spread throughout the apartment and caused $2,000 in structural damage and $3,000 in damage to the contents.

A truck and 18 firefighters responded to the blaze and put it out within 20 minutes. Christman said there was some smoke damage to the adjacent apartments.

The Presnells were sent to a TraveLodge motel for the night by the Red Cross, spokesman Sandi Lating said.

Garden Grove firefighters also responded to the fire at 9213 Buttercup Ave. in Fountain Valley at 10:30 p.m. after a call from a passer-by, said department spokeswoman Libby Mahan.

The fire destroyed the roof and attic, with damage estimated at $50,000.

Mahan said the fire apparently began when a pipe in the gas fireplace conducted too much heat to the wooden wall studs next to the fireplace, causing them to ignite. The fire spread to the second story and the attic before firefighters were called in.

Mae Croft said that she and her husband, Richard Croft, noticed a strange odor in the house. Then, she said, she heard a loud crackling sound and looked out the window to see her house on fire.

The two then went upstairs and found it smoky and hot, with the wall by the fireplace on fire, she said. They awakened their 25-year-old son, who was asleep with the door closed, and then got out of the house. Their daughter, Kea, 18, was already awake.