Local News in Brief : Anaheim : Public Offers Aid in Reaction to Grease Fire

While the public offered aid to victims, fire officials confirmed Thursday that hot grease on a stove caused Wednesday’s blaze that destroyed eight apartments and damaged two others at an Anaheim apartment complex.

Anaheim fire investigator Don Penfield determined that an overheated kettle of french fries triggered the 42-minute blaze that caused $350,000 damage and left 26 people homeless. No one was injured by the fire on West Ball Road.

Like 96% of Orange County’s renters, most of the displaced Sundial Apartments tenants were uninsured, said Barbara Lohman, spokeswoman for the county American Red Cross chapter.

The Red Cross, she added, has budgeted $25,000 to help fire victims. Volunteers paid for the lodging Wednesday night of 13 families whose apartments and possessions were lost, Lohman said.

Five people called The Times Thursday seeking to send money to the victims.

Frank Hicks, 27, was cooking french fries in a deep kettle of oil Wednesday in his family’s downstairs apartment when the grease overheated and caught fire. Hicks and a friend, Jerome Pride, 26, threw water on the fire. Water usually spreads a grease fire and doesn’t put it out.

And Anaheim city spokesman Patrick Denny corrected information he gave Wednesday about putting out grease fires. Denny said flour will not put out a grease fire; because of its composition, flour may actually explode at high temperatures.

Don Penfield, an Anaheim Fire Department investigator, said the best way to stop a grease fire is with a special fire extinguisher that does not contain water. Because “you want to remove the air from a fire,” he said, the lid of a pan is also effective.

He also recommended smothering the fire with baking soda (not powder).