2 Teens Roust Sleeping Couple From Burning House

An elderly couple escaped injury in a house fire caused by a malfunctioning air conditioner early Thursday after two passers-by alerted them to the blaze.

Jeffrey Wait and Tim Nusband, both 18, were walking home just before 2:30 a.m. Thursday from a nearby fast-food restaurant where they worked the night shift when they saw the two-story house in the 19700 block of Ridgewood Place on fire, Orange County Fire Capt. Scott Brown said.

They immediately pounded on the front door, Brown said. Alfredo Mercado, 85, and his wife were asleep in their bedroom when they heard the knocking and ran out of the house for safety, Brown said.

Brea Police Officer Robert Block, who responded to the emergency call, suffered smoke inhalation and was taken to St. Jude Medical Center in Fullerton, where he was treated and released.

Wait and Nusband tried to help extinguish the fire with a garden hose until firetrucks arrived. It took firefighters 33 minutes to put the fire out.

Damages are estimated at $90,000 for the structure and $50,000 for its contents.