BURBANK : Fire Destroys House; Others Damaged

One home was destroyed and another was damaged in two separate fires Friday.

Fire destroyed a two-story house under construction in Burbank, causing more than $375,000 damage and damaging four nearby houses, the Burbank Fire Department said.

Flames quickly engulfed the house in the 800 block of North Avon Street Thursday, burning it to the ground, Fire Marshal Daryl Forbes said. It took 34 firefighters about 30 minutes to control the blaze, which drew a crowd of 400 spectators.

“It was a total loss,” Forbes said.

Intense heat shattered windows and blackened roofs of nearby homes and garages and demolished a hot tub nearby and a van that was parked in the driveway, Forbes said. No damage estimate for the nearby structures was available.

Authorities have not determined what caused the fire, declared to be of suspicious origin.

A fire also broke out Friday at a house in the 6200 block of Shirley Avenue in Reseda, said Kevin Isozaki, a Los Angeles city Fire Department spokesman. Fire officials were investigating the cause of the 2 a.m. blaze, which took 18 firefighters about 15 minutes to extinguish.

A woman resident was taken to Tarzana Medical Center Hospital where she was treated for smoke inhalation, Isozaki said. The fire caused an estimated $60,000 damage to the home and its contents.