NEWPORT BEACH : Suspicious Fires Hit Office, Vacant Houses
An abandoned house was gutted and another damaged early Tuesday in a blaze that may have been intentionally set and was followed closely by a second fire in a nearby commercial building, fire officials said.
Close to two dozen firefighters from Newport Beach and Costa Mesa responded to a call just before midnight that two homes in the 2000 block of West Newport Boulevard were on fire. The blaze, which began in the basement of one of the homes and quickly spread next door, took half an hour to bring under control and caused a total of about $20,000 in damage to both homes, Newport Beach Fire Chief Jim Reed said.
As firefighters mopped up and doused hot spots, a bystander rushed up and told them that another fire had broken out two blocks away in a commercial building at 2222 W. Newport Blvd., Reed said.
Forty firefighters from Newport Beach, Costa Mesa, Huntington Beach and county fire departments were dispatched and controlled the flames in 35 minutes, aided by the building’s sprinkler system. Estimated damage to the building, occupied by William Simpson Architects, was $75,000.
Reed said the fire in the two vacant homes, built in the 1920s or 1930s and scheduled to be demolished soon, may have been a result of arson.
“There just isn’t any other explanation for the cause of the fire. It started under the house, and there just isn’t any source of ignition,” he said, adding that the police had recently been receiving complaints about transients breaking into and camping out in the homes.
No injuries were reported in either fire, he said.
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