Fires Hit 3 Dwellings; 2 Families Left Homeless

Three unrelated, early-morning fires drove two Orange County families from their homes Sunday and threatened a third family before firefighters brought the blazes under control, authorities said.

There were no injuries and the causes of all three blazes were under investigation.

Red Cross officials arranged for temporary housing for two of the families, whose homes were rendered uninhabitable.

The residential fires came on the heels of another blaze that had left three families homeless Saturday morning when the one-story Santa Ana house they shared was destroyed. Red Cross officials also arranged housing for members of those families.

The first of Sunday’s fires broke out at 4:37 a.m. and caused $100,000 damage to a single-family home at 7781 Westra Lane in La Palma, county fire dispatcher Debby Duncan said.

The Red Cross placed the family--Charles Green, his wife and their young children--in temporary housing in a Buena Park motel, Red Cross spokesman Quentin Plaut said. The family’s clothing needs were still being determined Sunday, Plaut said.

The second fire occurred shortly before 8 a.m. at a single-family house at 10321 Ethel Circle in Cypress. Damage was estimated at $68,500, Plaut said.

A third fire broke out about 8:10 a.m. in Unit B of the Garden Apartments, 13171 Monroe St. in Garden Grove. The blaze caused $25,000 damage and was controlled within 15 minutes.

The Red Cross also provided temporary housing to the apartment unit’s occupants, Diane Stephenson, her 5-year-old son, Jesse, and Dixie Brissell, Plaut said.