2 Boys Whose Rocket Reportedly Started Fire Released to Parents

Two 12-year-old boys who reportedly launched a model rocket that started a fire and threatened 15 homes were released to their parents, authorities said Thursday.

The fire started just after 1 p.m. on Wednesday on a grassy hillside and forced the evacuation of five homes on Bedford and Arlington drives, said Maria Sabol, a spokeswoman for the Orange County Fire Department.

Five of the homes suffered some minor damage to plants and shrubs and wrought-iron fences.

Fire crews arrived on the scene to take over from residents who had climbed on the wood-shake roofs with garden hoses prepared to battle the blaze.

It took 60 county firefighters 38 minutes to bring the blaze under control. About five acres of the open hillside were burned.

Sabol said that without special permission from county fire officials, it is illegal to launch model rockets except in a specified section of Mile Square Park in Fountain Valley.

“A lot of parents are not aware that there are state regulations stating where you can and cannot launch these rockets,” Sabol said. “It’s important for parents to know the rules because these are not toys.”

The rockets can be purchased by minors who are at least 14 years old, but California law forbids their being launched except in the presence of an adult, Sabol said.

Sabol said that when fire results from a model rocket launching, fire officials are legally entitled to recover up to $25,000 a day for their costs in fighting the blaze.