Fire displaces dozen, several apartments ruined

A halogen lightbulb likely caused a fire in a Costa Mesa apartment complex that displaced a dozen people and inflicted hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage, fire officials said Monday.

The halogen lightbulb, a type known for becoming extremely hot, ignited some bedding in a Villa Venetia apartment at 2775 E. Mesa Verde Drive, said Battalion Chief William Kershaw.

“The probable cause was that it’s an honest mistake,” he said.

Firefighters were dispatched just after 11 p.m. Sunday to put out the blaze. They arrived and found two apartments already on fire, with neighboring units getting damaged by the heat and smoke, said Battalion Chief Scott Broussard. The flames proved difficult to extinguish once they got into the walls and firefighters had to start ripping into them to get to the flames, Kershaw said. Six apartment units were evacuated, American Red Cross of Orange County officials said.

The complex suffered about $600,000 in structural damage and families lost about $150,000 worth of possessions, officials said.

The Red Cross has already helped two people find a place to stay, with more expected to request assistance today, said Daphne Hart, a Red Cross spokeswoman.

— Joseph Serna