Afternoon fire destroys pastor’s home

Young Chang

BALBOA PENINSULA -- A two-alarm fire destroyed a Balboa Peninsula home

Saturday afternoon, but residents got out unharmed.

The Rev. Tom Pendell, a pastor at the Christ Church by the Sea, wife

Carol Pendell, granddaughter Alysha Pendell and their cat Sasha evacuated

the house before fire officials arrived at about 3:15 p.m.

But as firefighters drenched the Ocean Boulevard home, flashovers

continued to sprout in bedrooms on both floors. No one was injured, said

Randy Scheerer, a division chief and public information officer for the

Newport Beach Fire Department.

At the scene, Carol Pendell sat wrapped in a blanket on a chair in her

neighbor’s garage, cradled on both sides by friends who had traveled down

the street to bring her gloves and hold her hands. A group of young boys

brought her a bag of Mrs. Fields cookies. A restaurant owner standing by

tried to find out the family’s name, to extend a free dining invitation.

“The neighbors have just been absolutely marvelous,” Pendell, 80,

said. “This is not the worst thing that can happen to a person.”

Fire officials said they did not know what caused the fire. The home

on the 1500 block will now be condemned, Scheerer said.