2 Fires Damage Local Residences

Two separate blazes, both believed to be accidental, ravaged a guest house and an apartment complex on Saturday, causing $130,000 in damage, officials said.

The first fire broke out shortly before 8 a.m. in a single-story, four-unit apartment building in the 1500 block of Orchard Street. It started in one apartment, traveled through the attic and spread to a second apartment, fire officials said.

Engines and firefighters from the Ventura County Fire Department joined the Santa Paula Fire Department to put out the blaze, officials said. Five fire engines, one ladder truck and 35 firefighters extinguished the blaze in about an hour.

The fire rendered all four of the apartments unsafe for occupancy, officials said. Damage totaled $120,000.

A second blaze broke out around 5:30 p.m. Saturday in a two-story guest house in the 600 block of San Juan Street in Santa Paula, officials said.

It was confined to one room, said Jerry Byrum, an engineer with the Santa Paula Fire Department, and firefighters knocked it down in about 30 minutes.

Eight engines and one ladder truck responded to the blaze, with 38 firefighters from the Santa Paula and Ventura County fire departments. One firefighter suffered minor injuries.

It caused about $10,000 in damage, Byrum said. Aside from the firefighter, no one was injured in either blaze. The causes of both fires are under investigation, but they appear to be accidental, officials said.