A closer look -- Residents suddenly on the firing line

Deepa Bharath

COSTA MESA -- James Martin, his wife and three children were driving

home from a basketball game in the late afternoon on March 2, when they

saw smoke swirling from their townhome complex -- again.

A little over 48 hours earlier, this family and many other residents

at the Monticello Town Homes Complex were jolted out of their beds at

3:30 in the morning after a fire and several explosions burned through a

man’s garage, killing him and damaging neighboring homes.

Barely a day and a half later, a family was left homeless after what

is now believed to be an electrical fire charred their belongings and

obliterated their five pets.

“It was shocking that we would have two fires in three days,” Martin

said. “It was pretty traumatic for the kids.”

Fire investigators have ruled out any connection whatsoever between

the two incidents.

The explosive fire of Feb. 28 was a result of gas vapors being

“ignited by an unknown source,” said Sean Brosamer, Costa Mesa Fire

Department’s lead investigator on the case.

“Everything in the house including the wiring was so badly damaged and

burned beyond recognition,” he said. “We’ll never know exactly what

caused the fire.”

But what investigators are sure of is it came from the garage area

where the 68-year-old resident, who was identified Thursday as Robert

Jamison Marshall, had stored large amounts of gas in cans and several

paint products, Brosamer said.

“The fumes built up and hit an ignition source that set off the

explosions and the fire,” he explained.

The second fire, which happened on March 2, was electrical and

probably the result of plugging in too many appliances into one power

outlet, Brosamer said.

Family members also stored several “combustible” products throughout

the house and were using many appliances with extension cords, he said.

“She had a lot of furniture and a lot of paper goods as well,” he

added.

But even that second incident did not signify an end to the chain of

unexpected and unrelated fires. Only this time, it was Newport Beach’s

turn. On Thursday, a Lido Isle home was gutted after an early morning

fire burned through and destroyed it. The six inhabitants of the hose and

their dog, however, escaped injury.

Again, on March 3, a small fire was enough to cause severe damage to

Robertino’s, a tailoring shop on Newport Boulevard. There was little

structural damage, but the clothes and the building suffered smoke

damage.

The most recent fire engulfed a commercial building in Costa Mesa on

Sunday night.

Residential fires may well be prevented by storing one’s possessions

in a neat and orderly manner, said the Costa Mesa Fire Marshall Tom

Macduff.

“The major issue, especially in the first fire, is what you should or

shouldn’t store in your condo,” he said.

The vapor explosion could have been caused by any number of sources

from tapping a switch to someone lighting a cigarette.

“Gasoline has the explosive power of dynamite,” he said.

Macduff said he will meet with the Monticello Homeowners Assn. members

soon to discuss some of the issues that can be controlled in such a

setting. Such a meeting between city officials and Monticello homeowners

is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Tuesday.

With residences, nobody has the authority to regulate the way people

store their belongings. But condominium associations may be able to

enforce strict regulations, Macduff said.

He said fires in the city’s businesses have gone down drastically

since the Fire Department started inspecting them for hazards every year.

“With residences the only solution would be more educational programs

and voluntary compliance,” Macduff said. “We put out information all the

time, but nobody really listens until something major happens.”

Monticello resident Bob Michna agreed and said residents and the

homeowners association must work together to “make ourselves safer.”

“I don’t think we should be afraid to approach a neighbor and request

them to keep their garages in a more orderly fashion,” he said.

But others said they believe the fires were purely coincidental.

Robert Myers, a long-time resident, said he remembers a fire that

burned down a townhouse more than 20 years ago.

“It was a spark from starting a motorcycle that ignited something and

the whole unit went down,” he said. “I guess this is just something that

happens from time to time. It was just a freak incident that there were

two fires in three days.”

Myers said he feels the complex has imposed enough rules and

regulations on its residents “to last a lifetime.”

“You can’t tell a person to clean up their garage just as you can’t

walk into somebody’s house and ask them to do the dirty dishes or vacuum

their carpet,” he said.

People will continue to use their garage for storing their belongings,

Myers said.

Professional Community Management, the company that manages the

property, is focusing on working with insurance companies to repair the

damaged homes, said spokeswoman Debbie Evans.

She said the company was not planning on rewiring the circuits. The

homes were built around 1964.

“We haven’t heard from the investigators about anything being wrong

with the wiring,” Evans said.

She said the consecutive fires were unexpected.

“It was a total shock,” Evans said. “It’s very unfortunate for that

community.”

* Deepa Bharath covers public safety and courts. She may be reached at

(949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at o7 deepa.bharath@latimes.comf7 .