Wiring Blamed After Fire Guts Mansion

Faulty wiring in an outdoor security light ignited a fire Thursday morning that gutted a $10-million mansion in Newport Beach’s exclusive Spyglass Hill neighborhood, fire officials said.

The owners of the property on Ridgeline Drive had been on vacation for several days, family members said, and the lights may have been on since Sunday.

One of the more than 50 firefighters tackling the blaze was hospitalized for smoke inhalation and fatigue, said Donna Boston, a Newport Beach fire spokeswoman.

The fire in the hillside home was reported shortly after 6 a.m. and it took more than three hours to knock down, Boston said.

The three-story Colonial-style home included gold-plated faucets, a Steinway grand piano, valuable antiques, paintings and hand-woven Belgian rugs. It had seven bedrooms, 14 bathrooms and had just been redecorated with millions of dollars in furniture and art, family members said.

The home belonged to Dennis Cocco, president of an Aliso Viejo computer microchip firm called Clare Micronix Integrated Systems Inc., and his wife , Jill. He was vacationing in Canada with their 10-year-old twin boys but boarded a plane home Thursday after learning of the fire.

His wife is on an African safari with their 11-year-old daughter. Two other children, ages 5 and 13, were staying at their nanny’s home, said Jean Vanderheide, Jill Cocco’s mother.