Blaze Causes $2.4 Million in Damage to Bank Building

An intense fire that erupted early Sunday in a Mission Viejo office building injured three firefighters and caused $2.4 million in damage before it was brought under control, authorities said.

Two firefighters suffered minor smoke inhalation and the third received a slight eye injury, said Capt. Patrick McIntosh, Orange County Fire Department spokesman. All three were treated and released from Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center.

Fire officials said the blaze broke out about 5:50 a.m. in the four-story office building in the 26300 block of La Alameda, where the Mission Viejo National Bank and a Paine Webber brokerage firm are located.

The fire apparently started on the second floor of the building in the bank’s offices. But flames quickly erupted from the windows and leaped up the side of the building to the third floor, fire officials said.

The scorching heat, contained by the building’s cement walls, shattered windows on all floors, sending shards of glass cascading to the pavement, officials said.

All floors in the complex sustained smoke damage, although the bank’s first floor vaults were not damaged. McIntosh said most of the damage occurred in the bank’s mortgage division on the second floor.

“No records in the bank itself or the vault were affected by the fire. However, they did lose their offices on the second floor,” McIntosh said.

Fire officials placed the damage estimate at $1.4 million to the structure and $1 million to the contents of the building.

Arson investigators on the scene determined that the fire started accidentally, but the precise cause is under investigation.

Sixty-five firefighters from 12 engine and three ladder-truck companies fought the blaze before it was contained 90 minutes later, officials said. The fire was initially called in as a second-alarm blaze, but a third alarm was called shortly after firefighters arrived.

Firefighter Nolan Osborn, who suffered smoke inhalation, said the smoke was so dense “we could hardly see.” Fire Capt. Dennis McCoy also was treated for smoke inhalation, while firefighter Tom Enfield suffered a minor eye injury, Osborn said.

Bank officials were not available to comment on whether the bank would open today.

Times staff writer Jim Carlton contributed to this story.