Home Burns; Embers Start 8 Roof Fires
A house under construction in the Huntington Harbour area burned to the ground Monday, covering the neighborhood with embers that ignited eight roof fires, some a quarter of a mile away, officials said.
“There wasn’t an excessive amount of wind,” said Inspector Bob Culhane, a spokesman for the Huntington Beach Fire Department, “but the intense fire in the frame structure created its own updraft. The embers went very high in the air. It didn’t take much to carry them a long way.”
Fire departments from several cities and the county responded.
The initial fire started about 7:45 p.m. at a house being framed in the 16000 block of Carousel Lane, Culhane said. The owners were out of state at the time. The embers started roof fires at houses on Carousel, Ensign Circle, Humboldt Drive and Ladona Circle.
The cause of the first fire is under investigation, Culhane said. --DAVID HALDANE
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