Buena Park : Family Flees Unhurt From Apartment Fire

A family of five escaped unhurt early Wednesday from a fire that firefighters believe started when a sleeping child accidentally pushed a blanket into a portable heater, authorities said.

Joe Garcia told fire investigators that he and his wife, Jennie Ramirez, were awakened shortly before 5:30 a.m. by the screams of one of the children in an upstairs bedroom of their apartment in the 7600 block of Jackson Way.

Garcia said he rushed to the bedroom, found the bedding engulfed in flames, pulled the two children out and they all made it out unharmed.

Fire Capt. David Myers said he believes that the blaze erupted when the bed clothes slipped onto the heater, which was placed between the children’s twin beds.

About 16 firefighters, including a unit from a nearby Anaheim station, put out the flames in about 20 minutes. Damage was estimated at about $50,000 to the building and about $15,000 to the contents.

A spokeswoman for the American Red Cross chapter in Orange County said the chapter provided clothing and food for Garcia, Ramirez, their two daughters, ages 9 and 5, and their 2-year-old son. The family found lodging on their own, the spokeswoman said.