Blaze Damages Mission Viejo Bally’s Spa

A fire that may have burned unnoticed in the ceiling while an overnight cleaning crew went about its duties caused $1 million in damage Sunday to Bally’s Holiday Health Spa on Alicia Parkway, the Orange County Fire Department and a Bally’s spokesman said.

Fire Department officials “feel the fire was probably going a good six or seven hours before we knew it,” said Stuart Aldrich, Orange County supervisor for Bally’s spas.

“Probably the cleaning crew was in there for two hours while the fire was going and didn’t even know it,” he said. The crew normally works from about 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. and may have been working directly beneath the smoldering blaze in the false ceiling, he said.

Fire investigators determined that the blaze, which extensively damaged the club’s main facility, began with a short in wiring. It was first discovered by a spa manager, who arrived at work about 7:30 a.m., Aldrich said. The fire was under control by 8:01 a.m., fire officials said.

“When the morning manager came in and noticed it, the sauna looked like a fireplace,” Aldrich said.

“The main part of the club is pretty well gone,” Aldrich said. Nevertheless, on Sunday night about 20 customers worked out with weights and aerobic exercises in the spa’s annex, a separate building next door.

Aldrich said the fire burned in the ceiling in the rear of the main building, then spread to the cedar walls and benches in the area of the spa, sauna and indoor swimming pool.

The pool “is loaded with soot and ashes and ceiling tile and insulation,” he said. “You can’t even tell it’s a pool, it has so much stuff floating on top of it.”

Aldrich said the damaged building probably will be completely rebuilt, a process that may take as long as two or three months.

In the meantime, members wishing to use pool and sauna facilities may attend any of the other Bally’s facilities, Aldrich said.