2 House Fires Upend Dozens

A pair of house fires that broke out within blocks of each other Tuesday morning in Santa Ana left three firefighters and a resident injured and destroyed a house shared by eight families, authorities reported.

Struck by the number of people displaced by the fires -- 15 adults and an unknown number of children in one house -- neighbors canvassed the community for food, coming up with shoes, clothing and cash for those who lost their home.

Though the fires erupted in the same neighborhood, officials said they were not related.

“It is unusual to have two fully engulfed fires within four blocks on the same day,” said Santa Ana fire Capt. Randy Black.

The first blaze started in a rear rental unit of a country-style home in the 300 block of McFadden Avenue about 7:45 a.m., blanketing the neighborhood in smoke just as parents walked their children to school.

“There was so much smoke,” area resident Olga Pulido, 38, said after she dropped her children off at school. “The fire was shooting really high. I got so scared.”

Occupants of the rental unit, seven adults and two children, pulled out boxes of belongings and sprayed the home with garden hoses before firefighters arrived, but it was too late to save the unit or the house.

“The whole house was engulfed in flames,” said Black, who estimated damage at $175,000. “Flames were shooting out of every window. It looked like a matchstick.”

Investigators said the fire appeared to have been caused by an appliance that overheated in a bedroom.

Emergency crews treated a woman for smoke inhalation and a firefighter was hospitalized after he was hit by falling debris. The home and backyard were packed with used tires, furniture, collectibles, car parts and boxes, authorities said.

“It was very difficult for firefighters to access and move in the house with large combustible materials,” Black said.

Just as the first fire was brought under control and many of the 42 firefighters began wrapping up hoses and preparing to leave, a fire broke out four blocks away in a two-story home in the 700 block of Broadway.

Resident Monrique Triano said he and his wife and their year-old daughter escaped through a ground-floor window.

“I was so nervous,” said Triano, 26. “My wife tried to grab our clothes but I told her to get out.”

The blaze, which caused $300,000 in damage, left two firefighters with facial burns. The cause is being investigated.

Authorities said eight families lived in the 1930s-era home. The American Red Cross provided food, clothing and shelter to the victims while neighbors collected more than $230 in cash as well as clothing and shoes.