Family, Friends Mourn Girl Killed in Fire

Students at Trabuco Hills High School often gathered at Ashley Blum’s Rancho Santa Margarita home for slumber parties, good home cooking or just to hang out.

On Monday, they gathered to place flowers, candles, balloons and teddy bears on the driveway of her Via Encaro home to memorialize Ashley, who died Friday from burns suffered as she slept through a blaze that raced through the two-story home.

The 15-year-old cheerleader was home alone and sleeping deeply about 6 p.m. Friday when a small gas leak in the rear of the stove ignited, sending flames shooting through the windows and roof, said Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Stephen Miller.

Her parents each had recently left the house on errands.

“It was a very intense and fast-moving fire,” Miller said. “One breath of that heated air could knock you out.”

Next-door neighbor Karyn Capistran agreed.

“It spread so unbelievably fast,” said Capistran, 43. “The windows were popping.”

The blaze gutted the house but left the exterior largely intact. Damage was estimated to be at least $300,000, Miller said.

Ashley’s mother, Dana Blum, learned of the fire when a neighbor called her cellphone and she rushed home from visiting a friend at the hospital. When she spotted an ambulance leaving her neighborhood, she followed it to the hospital, where her daughter later died.

At school on Monday, students sold flowers to raise funds for funeral arrangements, which were pending.

They also tied pink ribbons with her name around trees.

The Orange County Fire Authority’s chaplain visited the school, which also provided grief counselors for Ashley’s classmates, said Dan Sullivan, principal of the Mission Viejo school.

“We’re just trying to give them support, especially the ninth-grade students,” Sullivan said.

“It’s been pretty difficult,” he said.

Friends set up a shrine in front of the home, where the three-car driveway was transformed into a growing memorial, filled with colorful flowers, teddy bears and pictures of Ashley.

Pictures showed Ashley riding a horse, hanging out with girlfriends at Knott’s Berry Farm and beaming in her cheerleading uniform.

“It’s great to see everyone come out,” said her twin brother, Jonathan, who had several classes with his sister. “It’s so sad because she was like a second mom to a lot of people.”

Ashley liked Britney Spears and wanted to be a chef, friends and family members said.

“She’s really mature for being 15,” said her sister, Jami Tellez, 23, of Ladera Ranch, holding two red roses and wiping away tears. “She was the mother hen of the family. We just love her, love her so much.”