Firefighters knock down kitchen fire in Burbank home

A residential fire on Santa Anita Avenue near Bel Aire Drive Thursday afternoon began after a gas stove suddenly caught fire, causing about $25,000 in damages, fire officials said.

Burbank Fire Capt. John Nare said an oven malfunction caused the fire in the 1000 block of Santa Anita Avenue. The fire began shortly after 3 p.m. and was knocked out in about 10 minutes, he said.

“The oven came on in self-cleaning mode and caught the grease on fire,” Nare said. The homeowner, Maria Zurita, was cooking on the stove top when the oven suddenly turned on, Nare said. Her son Ricardo was also home.

Damage was limited to the kitchen and smoke damage affected the remainder of the home, Nare said. The fire caused about $15,000 in damages to the home’s structure and an estimated $10,000 in contents.

Nare said three engines, two fire trucks and a rescue ambulance responded to the fire. No one was injured.

--Maria Hsin