Placentia Duplex Heavily Damaged by Blaze : Youth’s Screams Save Sisters From Fire

A 12-year-old Placentia boy screamed to alert his two older sisters Tuesday when a fast-moving fire swept through their duplex, sending them to safety.

The fire apparently started just before noon when grease flared up in the kitchen of one of two rental units in the 2300 block of Blackfoot Avenue, according to Orange County Fire Department spokeswoman Maria Sabol.

Flames spread through a common attic to the other unit, damaging a bedroom. The fire caused at least $180,000 in damage to the units, leaving the boy’s family homeless, Sabol said.

Lucy Broad, 18, said she was asleep in her bedroom when she awoke to her brother Jason’s voice.

“He started screaming, ‘Fire!’ “Broad said. “Then I saw this big wall of flame.”

Broad, Jason and their sister, Natasha, 16, who was in her bedroom when the fire broke out, escaped without injury as flames leaped to the roof. Their mother, Patricia, was not home.

“I just walked in and screamed,” Jason said. “I wanted them to get out of the house. I knew if I screamed I could get everyone out.”

Frank Farley, who lives in the other apartment, returned home during the fire, Sabol said. It took 27 firefighters from the county, Brea and Anaheim 25 minutes to control the blaze, she said. There was a smoke detector in the unit, but it apparently did not work, fire officials said.

The family was put up at a motel Tuesday by the American Red Cross before deciding where to stay. Their house will be demolished today, Broad said, but the owner said it would be rebuilt within three months.

Patricia Broad was at work Tuesday night and could not be reached for comment.

Lucy Broad said the fire destroyed nearly all of the family’s belongings, except for a few items in the garage.

“It’s very scary,” Broad said. “I’m just very glad my brother was there to scream out.”