Electrical Failure Touches Off Costly Irvine Restaurant Fire
An electrical failure within a storefront sign caused an attic fire early Saturday at an Irvine restaurant that took two hours to control and caused an estimated $800,000 in damage, fire officials said.
No one was injured, but flames penetrated the hidden areas of the attic, causing part of the roof to collapse, said Battalion Chief Scott Brown of the Orange County Fire Authority.
“This happened while [firefighters] were still inside,” Brown said. About 1 a.m., employees at China Garden, 14825 Jeffrey Road, either saw flames or smelled smoke coming from the attic when they called firefighters.
About 70 firefighters spent two hours to control the blaze. “It was difficult to access and that created a problem for us,” Brown said.
Firefighters resorted to using elevated platforms to fight the blaze from above “when the fire became so large” that it couldn’t be fought from the ground, Brown said.
No other structures were damaged, he said.
More to Read
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
