Fire Destroys Famed Ear Doctor’s Balboa Home : Blazes: A separate incident in Mission Viejo is blamed on a boy playing with an open flame.

A world-famous 87-year-old ear doctor who treated Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Stewart narrowly escaped a blaze that destroyed his Balboa Peninsula home early Monday, surviving a 10-foot fall from a collapsed porch roof with only minor scratches, officials said.

Fire officials credited Dr. Howard House’s escape to a smoke detector that awakened him in his second-story bedroom at 4 a.m., Newport Beach Fire Marshal Dennis Lockard said.

The quick-moving flames forced House to flee onto a porch roof made of corrugated fiberglass. The roof gave way, sending House toppling 10 feet to the ground outside the home in the 1800 block of Bay Avenue.

The fire was one of two blazes at Orange County homes Monday morning.

The second fire, apparently sparked by a 10-year-old boy, ruined the unopened Christmas presents of a Mission Viejo family whose smoke detector failed to go off, fire officials said. That blaze caused $20,000 in damage.

The Newport Beach fire caused an estimated $300,000 in damage at House’s residence of three decades.

House founded the Associates of the House Ear Institute 50 years ago. His patients and friends also included Bob Hope, Burt Reynolds and Barry Goldwater.

The famed otologist was resting Monday at the home of relatives, just down the street from his ruined house, Lockard said.

“He just was a real fortunate guy,” Lockard said. “He’s very mobile--a very nice man.”

The blaze destroyed the 1923-built home and burned everything inside. Damage was estimated at $200,000 to the structure and $100,000 to contents, Lockard said.

Investigators suspect the fire was caused by an electrical short.

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It took 34 firefighters from Newport Beach and Costa Mesa about an hour to control the blaze and hose down neighboring homes to keep them from burning, Lockard said. Two fireboats also helped.

“The lessons learned are: Check your smoke detector regularly. At this time of year, when you’re buying batteries for your children’s toys, buy batteries for your smoke detector, and practice escape and have a rendezvous point outside your home in case you have to evacuate,” Lockard said.

The Mission Viejo fire was sparked at 8:26 a.m. after the 10-year-old got his hands on an open flame--most likely a lighter, said Orange County Fire Authority spokeswoman Emmy Day. The blaze forced a woman, her four young children and the family dog from their home, Day said.

Fifteen firefighters fought the blaze in the 27500 block of Limones for about 40 minutes. When firefighters arrived, they were told there might be children inside, but the youngsters, 2 through 12, had escaped unharmed, Day said.

The family’s Christmas tree was blackened and their unopened presents were destroyed by smoke damage, Day said. Damage to the rental home was estimated at $10,000, with another $10,000 in damage to the contents.

Red Cross workers and a city volunteer from the Trauma Intervention Program were assisting the family Monday, Day said.

The family’s smoke detector is hard-wired and not battery operated and apparently failed to go off when the fire ignited near the living room sofa, she said.

Fire officials warned residents to use extra caution during the holiday season.

“School is out for the holidays, and historically we will experience more fires because it’s the holidays, but also because kids are at home, and lots of kids are at home who aren’t supervised,” Day said. “This is a very dangerous time of the year.”