Illegal Fireworks Touch Off $2.5 Million Anaheim Blaze : 40 Units of Apartment Block Burn

Illegal fireworks sparked a $2.5-million blaze that roared through a large apartment complex in Anaheim early today, destroying 40 units and sending about 220 people fleeing into the streets, authorities said.

“It was caused by illegal aerial rockets,” Deputy Fire Marshal Gail McCloud said.

It was the most serious fire this week in Southern California blamed on fireworks, following a brush fire that threatened homes in Chino on Wednesday and a brush fire in a canyon near Universal City on Monday.

One firefighter suffered a knee injury fighting today’s blaze, but no other injuries were reported.

Residents of the complex on East La Palma Avenue told reporters that they saw bright flashes and heard loud pops they thought were fireworks just before the shake-shingle roof went up in flames at 3:30 a.m.

Flames Spread in Attic

The flames spread quickly through a common attic as firefighters and police evacuated the 110-unit building.

The attic did not contain fire stops that city building and fire codes now require, dispatcher Jim Hall said. Without the fire stops, he said, flames raced throughout the building’s crawl space, confronting firefighters with intense heat and roaring flames.

Firefighters managed to halt the spread of the blaze shortly after 5 a.m., but the fire continued to burn in the shell of the building until dawn, as residents rousted from their beds huddled outside, Hall said.

Nearly 100 firefighters from the Anaheim, Orange, Orange County and Fullerton fire departments battled the blaze.

Traffic Disrupted

La Palma Avenue was closed to traffic in both directions from the Orange Freeway to Sunkist Street as flames from the fire shot into the air and were visible from several surrounding cities. The spectacle disrupted traffic on the Orange and Riverside freeways, police said.

The damage was estimated at $2 million to the structures and $500,000 to the contents, fire Capt. Jim Scherler said. Forty units were destroyed, according to fire spokeswoman Jill Skinner.

Residents of the complex, which is 25 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles, were evacuated to the nearby Sunkist Elementary School.

The blaze came one day after management at the apartment complex distributed a flyer warning residents they would be evicted if caught jeopardizing the safety of others by using fireworks.

Irony Seen

One fire official at the scene today commented on the irony of that flyer.

“Obviously, they evicted more than they intended,” Fire Marshal Mike Doty said.

The blaze was the most devastating of three major fireworks-related fires in Southern California in four days.

After Wednesday’s Chino Hills fire, the remains of “safe and sane” fireworks--the kind that spin on the ground and send off showers of sparks--were found in the blackened brush near six homes that had been threatened for a time, fire Capt. Alan Lundgren said.

The Monday night blaze in Los Angeles, visible for miles as it burned about 18 acres of brush, was started by a large skyrocket, fire Inspector Vince Marzo said today.