Gust-Driven Fire Destroys Orange Home

Nearly 80 firefighters descended on a wind-buffeted hillside neighborhood of half-million-dollar-plus homes in Orange on Saturday morning to battle a blaze that destroyed one house and ignited three spot fires nearby.

Forty- to 50-mph Santa Ana winds and a wood shingle roof sent glowing embers floating through the community.

Neighbors and firefighters said they were relieved that the fire didn’t spread.

“It could have been hundreds of houses,” Orange Battalion Chief Frank Eickhoff said. “With these kind of fires on a Santa Ana wind day, you have the potential of having a Laguna or Oakland Hills.”

A 1993 Laguna Beach wildfire destroyed more than 300 homes. In 1991, an Oakland Hills fire destroyed 3,000 homes.

No one was hurt in the 8 a.m. fire in the 3400 block of East Westridge Drive, where Mike Ernst, his wife and three children had been renting for several years. The family paced the street, cried and sought comfort from friends as they watched the house burn.

“I was in the shower; I smelled smoke,” said Amy Ernst, 18, the only family member at home when the fire broke out.

Capt. Mike Tuggle said the teenager woke a friend who was asleep in another room. Both young women told firefighters they saw flames coming from the garage.

The sprawling two-story house was gutted, as was a small sedan parked in the driveway. Investigators determined that a malfunctioning water heater caught fire in the garage and flames quickly roared through the home. Fire officials said the structure and contents were valued at $1 million.

“When the Santa Ana winds start up, this is your greatest fear,” said Ernst family friend Julie Cicero. “This is awful. They are devastated. All their family pictures. All their sports pictures. The things you can’t replace.”

When next-door neighbors Sherry and Anthony Sosnowski saw the fire, they called 911, then grabbed water hoses and immediately doused plants and bushes.

Pat Buttress lives across the street. When she opened her front door, she said she could feel intense heat and see flames shooting 20 to 30 feet into the air. The smoke was so black and thick, she couldn’t see to the end of the block.

Within minutes, both stories and the car were engulfed in flames, she said. Firefighters tried to extinguish the blaze to no avail.

A helicopter helped guide firefighters stationed throughout the neighborhood at the northern edge of Villa Park to smaller blazes on roofs and in palm trees.

One street away, Bruce McCann and his family were awakened by the sound of people on their roof. He walked outside and saw smoke billowing from his wood shingles and firefighters working quickly to put out a small fire. He was unaware that his house was on fire.

“They said that in five minutes, the roof would have been gone,” McCann said. “God saved me this time, but I’m going to have to dig in and (get a new roof).”Throughout the neighborhood, homeowners have been replacing shingle roofs with Spanish or concrete tiles. Pat Buttress, head of the architecture committee for the homeowners association, has approved six or seven new roofs since August. “I have a feeling there will be a lot more,” she said, including her own. “I am changing it out next week. I don’t want the risk. It’s a real wake-up call when you see what fire will do to a wood-shake roof.”

Warnings for high winds were in force for much of Southern California on Saturday. Winds were 35 to 50 mph in some areas, with local gusts over 60 mph. The warnings were expected to continue through 2 p.m. today, the National Weather Service said.

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Times staff writers Louis Sahagun, David Haldane and Stuart Pfeifer contributed to this report.