FULLERTON : Building Is Gutted in 2-Alarm Fire

A fire destroyed a medical building Tuesday, causing an estimated $1 million in damage and cutting power to neighboring businesses and residences for more than four hours.

Obstructed by layers of roofing material, firefighters were forced to rip the face from the Lusk Professional Building at 1001 S. Brookhurst Road to attack the two-alarm blaze that began shortly before 4:30 a.m. and continued to smolder through late morning.

No one was injured, and authorities said the cause of the fire remained under investigation. Tuesday afternoon, officials were centering their investigation on a rooftop heating and air conditioning system.

“We had to rip the building apart just to get at the fire,” Fullerton Fire Marshal Larry B. Greene said, adding that once inside, the heat became so intense that firefighters were initially ordered to “back away.”

Greene said an active natural gas line had also helped fuel the fire that gutted the one-story building. The marshal said Southern California Edison workers were able to cut gas flow to the building shortly after fire officials arrived at the scene.

Firefighters, who safely avoided one partial roof collapse, battled through 10 layers of roofing material to confront the blaze that had spread quickly from the northern end to engulf all of the structure’s 8,000 square feet.

“We had to make it a defensive firefight to keep it confined to the structure,” said Greene, who pointed to a nearby residential area that was initially threatened. “It took a lot of time just to get to it.”

No one was evacuated from homes or businesses, but authorities did close down a block of South Brookhurst Road, from Orangethorpe Avenue north to Southgate Avenue. The section of road, closed at 4:45 a.m., was reopened to traffic by 12:10 p.m.

Dr. Maurice Ghattas, whose dermatology practice has been based in the one-story building for more than 12 years, watched from across the street as firefighters aimed waterspouts toward a section of the structure that was once his office.

“Everything is gone,” Ghattas said, waving a portable telephone in the air. “I have 30,000 (medical) charts in that office. All of that is destroyed; even my children’s pictures are destroyed.”

Elmarie Ferreira, Ghattas’ office manager, said other tenants in the building include a dental laboratory and leasing office.

“I can’t imagine how this happened,” Ferreira said.

Greene said a second alarm was called by 4:41 a.m., bringing a total of 10 units and 50 firefighters from the Fullerton, Anaheim and Buena Park fire departments.

Electricity was shut down to neighboring residences to protect firefighters from the possibility of live wires falling, Greene said. Power was restored to the area by 9:15 a.m.

Greene said the high damage estimate was based in part on expensive medical equipment and charts believed to be a total loss.