Newport Beach Home Damaged by Fire

Robert Thais was returning to his Newport Beach home from the grocery store Monday when he saw the smoke rising in the morning rain.

“I know this place so well, as soon as I saw the smoke, I knew it was our house,” said Thais, 80, who has lived with his wife in the Spyglass Hill home for a dozen years. “It’s a bad feeling when you see it coming from down the road.”

The blaze charred Thais’ $700,000 Ocean Birch Drive home, destroying a laundry room, a bedroom and a van parked in the driveway. His daughter, home at the time, escaped unharmed.

The fire, in the 3800 block of Ocean Birch Drive, started in the laundry room of the 2,700-square-foot home and caused about $180,000 in damage, said John Blauer, a Newport Beach Fire Department spokesman.

Thais’ daughter, Stephanie Thais, 34, was resting in a back bedroom when she felt the house getting warmer. As she investigated, she felt heat coming from the laundry room and ran outside for help. Later, comforted by neighbors, she watched from the street as 20 firefighters battled the blaze. Firefighters, and the damp weather, prevented nearby homes from being damaged.

Thais and his wife were stoic about the morning’s events.

“I’m just glad my daughter is OK,” he said.