Smoke traced to attic insulation

Newport Beach firefighters tore through the ceiling of a home near Coast Highway and Newport Center Drive to find out why smoke was wafting out of an attic Thursday.

About 12:15 p.m., roughly 20 fire personnel responded to the 1200 block of Seadrift, where there were reports of smoke coming out of the eaves of a home.

Firefighters saw light smoke and used thermal-imaging cameras to see unusually intense heat inside the attic, according to a Newport Beach Fire Department news release.

An appliance in the attic was heating up insulation and causing the material to smoke, but because the house was in the middle of a remodeling job, firefighters had to pull drywall from the ceiling to uncover the problem.

It took crews about an hour to find the appliance and stop the smoke, the department said.

The Fire Department did not provide damage estimates. No one was injured.

— Jeremiah Dobruck

Twitter: @jeremiahdobruck