Fast-Moving Fire Damages Building at John Wayne

A building housing two aviation equipment companies at John Wayne Airport was heavily damaged Tuesday by a fast-moving fire that sent a column of black smoke spewing over runways and the busy San Diego Freeway.

Five persons were treated for smoke inhalation and released at the Healthcare Medical Center in Tustin and College Hospital in Costa Mesa. Fire officials said they were sent to the hospitals to be checked and all appeared uninjured. The five were helping move aircraft away from the burning structure when they inhaled the smoke.

Orange County Fire Department Battalion Chief Harold Ferdig said the blaze was confined to a small portable structure that housed Western Avionics Inc. and Western Instruments, businesses that service and sell aircraft instruments. The building, located at 19331 Airport Way South, was subleased to the companies by Martin Aviation Inc.

The blaze broke out at 5:40 p.m. Ferdig said the intense smoke was caused by flames spreading to a small attic area of the portable structure. Firefighters were unable to reach the area until the fire burned through the structure.

Martin Aviation facilities, which are connected to the avionics building, were not damaged.

When the fire broke out, employees at Martin Aviation, founded by Orange County pioneer aviator Eddie Martin, helped move some small private aircraft that were parked near the building, Ferdig said. No aircraft were damaged.

The area where the fire broke out was recently the site of the farewell ceremony for 11-year-old Tony Aliengena, the San Juan Capistrano boy who is trying to become the youngest pilot to fly around the world.

Ferdig said that the cause of the fire was under investigation and that the extent of damage caused by the blaze was not immediately known.