Soccer Players Put Out Grass Fire

Members of two men’s soccer teams taking a halftime break during a friendly Fourth of July game extinguished a grass fire that suddenly erupted next to the soccer field.

“Those soccer players reacted very quickly,” said Lynne Collins, a resident who was watching the game. “They were just great.”

The fire broke out about 6:30 p.m. at the soccer field in Moulton Meadow Park across the street from a residential neighborhood in Arch Beach Heights.

By the time Laguna Beach fire units arrived, the blaze was out, said Reserve Fire Capt. John Luna.

There were no injuries and no indication of how the fire started, Luna said, crediting the soccer teams for their fast action.

“We just saw the fire and put it out,” said Luis Sanchez of Laguna, one of the players. “We were lucky.”