SANTA ANA : Condo Fire Quelled After Being Seen by Passing Firefighters

Firefighters who happened to spot smoke as they were passing by a condominium unit Thursday morning called for backup units that quickly doused the flames with foam, officials said.

While the blaze caused no deaths or injuries, it gutted a unit of the Regency Villa Apartments in the 1600 block of North King Street.

Victor Mondragon, whose home burned to ashes, said his sister, Antonia Rosela, and his 4-year-old daughter were at home when the fire began. Rosela, 23, apparently left the apartment to call for help after she smelled smoke, said Manuel Fajardo, a neighbor.

The apartment then burst into flames, Fajardo said, and Rosela ran back inside and rescued the child.

The neighbor said he tried to put out the fire with a garden hose but could not contain the flames, which spread to an adjacent unit in the fourplex. Meanwhile, the first firefighter saw the blaze, and with help from two dozen more firefighters extinguished the fire within 30 minutes.

Damage to the two units was estimated at $80,000, firefighter John Bodo said. The two other condominiums did not have major damage.

Investigators said late Thursday that the cause of the fire remained under investigation.