Spontaneous Condo Fire Does $80,000 Damage

Firefighters on Sunday extinguished a residential fire that started when improperly discarded rags used for wood-staining spontaneously ignited, fire officials said.

Orange County Fire Capt. Dan Young said the condominium blaze was the second fire in as many days caused by soaked rags tossed away without care.

“It’s really amazing. It was the same product with the same brand name in both cases,” Young said. “There’s nothing wrong with the product, people just aren’t reading the warning labels.”

In both fires, rags used during wood-staining projects were sealed in plastic trash bags and thrown away. The chemicals on the rags, combined with flammable plastic bags, caused the rags to decompose quickly and spontaneously ignite.

“It says on the label that the rags should be adequately soaked in water after being used,” Young said. “It’s a big mistake not to.”

Sunday’s fire, which caused about $80,000 in damage, occurred about 5:15 p.m. at a condominium at 1 Grenache, Young said. More then 20 firefighters extinguished the blaze in about 15 minutes. No one was injured, but one of the family’s two cats died.

On Saturday, about 15 firefighters worked to put out a fire in the 27800 block of Via Madrina in San Juan Capistrano, Young said. That fire caused about $150,000 damage and left the family dog dead.