Local News in Brief : Yorba Linda : Power Problem Causes Fire in Vacant Office

A fire caused about $30,000 damage to a vacant office Thursday morning after electric power lines heated a gas pipe and ignited an office wall.

One firefighter suffered second-degree burns to his neck when molten metal fell from a ceiling, Orange County Fire Department spokeswoman Patti Range said. The firefighter, whose name was not released, was taken to Placentia Linda Hospital and later released.

The fire broke out about 9:30 a.m., after a problem in Southern California Edison Co. high-tension power lines affected the entire office complex in the 4800 block of Valley View Avenue.

“But in the vacant building there were electric wires lying across a natural gas pipe in the wall, and (that) caused the gas pipe to become energized with electricity. It was not a surge or a short,” County Fire Capt. Patrick McIntosh said. “The gas pipe was close enough to the wood to start the fire.”

Firefighters contained the blaze within 30 minutes. McIntosh said the vacant office was separated from the rest of the single-story business complex by a breezeway, which probably prevented the fire from spreading.

An outside wall and part of the roof and attic of the 50-foot by 30-foot office were destroyed. The vacant office was believed to be a former child care center.