SANTA ANA : Fire Forces Family to Vacate House

Flames gutted a small Santa Ana house Friday, forcing a family of six to flee into the street but causing no injuries, fire officials said.

The three-bedroom house in the 900 block of West Chestnut Avenue was all but destroyed in the 9:50 a.m. fire, said Santa Ana Fire Department spokesman Karl Ellman.

Investigators were unable to immediately identify the source of the one-alarm blaze, which firefighters extinguished in five minutes. The fire appeared to have started in the front bedroom, witnesses said, and then spread through the rest of the wood-frame, bungalow-style home.

“The residents smelled the smoke and quickly gathered everyone up and evacuated to a safe area outside,” Ellman said.

Four children, one woman and one man escaped from the burning building, Ellman said.

Neighbor Rosie Oviedo said she was watching television when she looked out the front door and saw several people standing on the sidewalk looking across the street at the burning house.

“When I walked outside I saw it,” she said. “The flames were jumping out of the front bedroom. The windows were popping and the flames were rolling upwards.”

Family members who lived in the burning home were attempting to hose down the front wall but were unable to control the blaze.

“It just went up quick,” said neighbor Susan Mendez, who dialed 911 to report the fire.