Small fire smokes out Union Bank

-- Danette Goulet

NEWPORT BEACH -- A small fire erupted Monday evening in a generator

room on the roof of the Union Bank of California branch on Westcliff

Drive.

Firefighters extinguished the flames within 30 minutes of receiving

the call, but not before the entire building had filled with smoke, said

Battalion Chief Jim Ellis of the Costa Mesa Fire Department.

At press time, officials had not yet assessed the damage and were

continuing to investigate the cause of the fire.

The room in which the fire ignited houses a generator, which controls

air conditioning and heating for the building, said Lt. John Blauer of

the Newport Beach Fire Department.

No one was injured, but the few people remaining in building had a

scare.

Joe Plisinski, a physical therapist for Healthsouth on the third floor

of the building, dialed 911 just before 7 p.m., he said.

Dina Ginsberg, his patient, told him she smelled smoke.

“Dina started smelling smoke, so we checked all our equipment,”

Plisinski said. “Moments later, we could see smoke coming in through the

vents and then the smoke detectors went off.”

The two rushed out of the office after calling 911.

The only other person in the building was the bank’s branch manager,

who was the first person out.