Blaze in Trees Leaps to Pair of Homes in Garden Grove
A fire that started in a pair of trees burned two homes Wednesday, doing about $200,000 damage, officials said.
The fire began at 11:20 a.m. in the 8700 block of Mays Avenue and moved to the roof of a home. Wind spread the blaze to the shake roof of the home next door, the Orange County Fire Authority said.
Nicholas Verhague, 16, who lives across the street, said his mother told him she smelled smoke, so he went outside to investigate. He said he saw smoke coming from the home of Joe Hay, his former football coach at Westminster High School, and he grabbed his garden hose.
Verhague said he saw someone dressed as a firefighter, carrying an ax, just after the fire began. He said the man told him to direct the firetrucks to the scene, then disappeared before the trucks arrived.
Hay was not home, but firefighters and neighbors rescued his two dogs, Verhague said.
Investigators are trying to determine the cause of the fire.
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