Sisters Escape Fire Started by Burning Candle
Two sleeping sisters narrowly escaped a fire Sunday that destroyed their family’s two-bedroom apartment in Santa Ana, authorities said.
Suzanne Carr, 18, and her sister, Justine, 11, were awakened by the smell of smoke just in time to flee the burning apartment in the 800 block of West Stevens Avenue, said Battalion Chief Jess Hernandez of the Santa Ana Fire Department.
The girl’s mother, Gail Carr, was away when the blaze broke out about 11:15 a.m. in the first-floor unit at the Park Plaza II apartments.
It took nearly two dozen firefighters about 10 minutes to put out the blaze, Hernandez said. Damage was estimated at $65,000, including $15,000 to the family’s personal belongings and furniture.
Investigators believe the blaze started by accident. Hernandez said bedding caught fire from a burning candle left unattended in a bedroom. The sisters were apparently asleep in other rooms of the apartment, Hernandez said.
“It’s a good lesson,” he said. “Don’t leave a candle burning unless you’re around to watch it.”
The American Red Cross helped get housing for the Carrs, who have lived in the apartment complex for about three years.
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