Lack of Wind Keeps Fire in Check : Blaze: Orange home is destroyed but other wood-shingled houses in the neighborhood are kept safe, which might have been impossible in earlier, 40-m.p.h. Santa Ana gusts.

A welcome lull in this week’s strong Santa Ana winds may have saved a neighborhood of wood-shingled homes when fire broke out Thursday in Orange Park Acres, gutting one home and leaving three firefighters slightly injured.

Despite a quick response by units from the city of Orange and the Orange County Fire Department, windblown embers from the 9:20 a.m. blaze ignited four other roofs before they could be put out, fire officials said.

“If this was yesterday,” said Rey Montoya, Orange fire division chief, “we’d be fighting a major disaster. I had visions of Oakland.”

County fire officials had nervously waited out 40-m.p.h. winds on Wednesday, hoping that a windblown conflagration would not erupt in one of the county’s outlying neighborhoods, including Orange Park Acres in east Orange.

A red flag warning had been issued for the first time since the fire season began in May, and strike teams had been dispatched to areas near Orange Park Acres. But on Thursday, when the winds died down, county fire officials downgraded their status from high alert to normal.

“Fortunately we got through yesterday,” County Fire Department spokeswoman Kathleen Cha said Thursday.

Concern about a wildfire jumping from roof to roof prompted fire officials to double their efforts in fighting Thursday morning’s fire, which broke out in a two-story home in the 5200 block of Muir Drive, Montoya said.

Firefighters in the first engine that pulled out of the station, located three blocks from Muir Drive, saw thick smoke rising above the trees and immediately called the County Fire Department for assistance, Montoya said.

When the firefighters arrived, flames had already eaten through the attic and were shooting into the sky. A slow-moving breeze fanned the roof-top fire and carried embers downwind. The embers created “spot fires” on four other roofs, Montoya said.

The small fires were brought under control immediately, keeping the blaze from spreading further. The fire, which destroyed the house, was declared out within 20 minutes. After fire investigators spent the day sifting through the ashes, Montoya said they determined that the blaze was apparently sparked by children playing with a cigarette lighter. Damage was estimated at about $400,000.

Wynona Dunacheck, 51, the owner of the house, said she was upstairs when she heard her daughter and young granddaughter screaming downstairs that a couch had caught fire. Dunacheck did not know how it started, saying that it was seldom used and there were no electrical outlets or lamps in the area.

Dunacheck said she rushed downstairs and grabbed a small fire extinguisher from under the kitchen sink. She then headed for the living room to put out the fire. But the extinguisher failed and she and the others headed out the garage door while flames quickly crawled up the walls.

“I can’t believe how fast it all went up,” she said as she sat on a curb and mournfully watched firefighters pour water onto her house. Her sister-in-law, Susan Polis, consoled her as she spoke.

“The windows were popping and smoke was everywhere. I didn’t even have time to grab my purse or anything,” Dunacheck said. “Everything I’ve owned for 15 years is gone. But thank God it wasn’t yesterday. Thank God there was no wind.”

Three firefighters suffered first- and second-degree burns in battling the blaze. Orange city fire engineer Larry Boyd suffered a burn to his neck, while fellow engineer Gus Macedonia was burned on his face, Montoya said. They were both taken to St. Joseph Hospital in Orange, where they were treated and released.

Orange County fire paramedic Jeff Hull was burned on his calf and shoulder, Montoya said, and taken to Western Medical Center-Santa Ana, where he was treated and released.

Montoya said that quick work by the firefighters, as well as the absence of a Santa Ana condition, averted a disaster that has been predicted for areas such as Orange Park Acres.

“They did a tremendous job,” Montoya said. “We were very aggressive in fighting this fire. We put up a strong offense and were able to knock it down. It could have been worse.”