HUNTINGTON BEACH : Apartment Gutted in Smoking-Related Fire

A teen-ager awoke from a nap Thursday to discover smoke coming from a sofa in his bedroom and called firefighters, who could not stop the apartment from being gutted but were able to prevent the flames from spreading to other units, fire officials said.

Cory Shaw, 17, summoned help about 12:10 p.m. and escaped from the second-story apartment at 19132 Magnolia St. without injury, said Brigit Davis, a spokeswoman for the Fire Department.

The flames were put out in 20 minutes. Firefighters found a full ashtray on the sofa and said the cause of the blaze was “discarded smoking material, possibly a cigarette,” Davis said.

Shaw lived in the unit with Gary Parnass, 47, and his 17-year-old son, Brendan, who were not home when the fire broke out.

Brendan Parnass said he was walking home from Valley Vista High School when he saw his home in the Beachwood Village Apartments on fire.

“I saw all this smoke from the window of my room and firefighters everywhere,” he said. “I think it’s all gone.”