Briefly in the news

It took Newport Beach fire crews about 20 minutes to extinguish a

blaze that caused about $100,000 damage to a single-story Newport Beach

home Sunday evening.

A floor heater seemed an initial suspect, fire officials said.

“We suspect a floor heater, but without talking to the occupant, it’s

hard to determine that,” said George Pearce, battalion chief with the

Newport Beach Fire Department.

No one was inside the one-bedroom home in the 200 block of 35th Street

when fire crews arrived at 5:15 p.m. No one was injured, though

firefighters employed a ladder to rescue a female from the upstairs of a

neighboring two-story home.

“She didn’t feel comfortable because it was smoky and hot around, so

she climbed down the ladder,” Pearce said, noting that the fire left that

home unscathed.

Pearce estimated $90,000 in structural damages and $10,000 worth of

damage to house contents such as furniture, televisions, and stereos.

“The whole inside was charred. There was smoke damage and broken

windows,” Pearce said.