Girls Admit Starting Blaze With Fireworks

Two 16-year-old girls have admitted in Juvenile Court to using illegal fireworks and recklessly starting a major fire at a Garden Grove apartment complex that left about 100 people without homes.

Orange County Juvenile Court Judge Frank F. Fasel sentenced one of the teens Tuesday to a year in Juvenile Hall after she admitted to a felony charge of recklessly causing the fire.

The second girl is scheduled to be sentenced July 29, at which time the judge also will decide if the girls should pay restitution toward the fire damage.

“People have to realize that fireworks might be fun for the time, but they can really cause insurmountable destruction,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Mike Fell said. “The destruction not only deals with someone’s property, but it deals with their life.”

Both girls, whose names were not released because of their ages, lived in the sprawling brick apartment complex in the 12000 block of Lewis Street, and fire officials said they had been seen lighting fireworks in the parking lot and pool area on the May 19 afternoon of the fire.

Investigators suspect the fire was sparked by a bottle rocket that landed on a cedar shake roof covered with dried pine needles. The blaze caused $1.2 million in damage and gutted 37 units.

Just before the admissions were made in court Tuesday, the judge had decided the cases should remain in Juvenile Court, rather than sending the girls to face possible trials in adult court.