BRIEFLY IN THE NEWS Back Bay...

BRIEFLY IN

THE NEWS

Back Bay area closed after sewage spill

The Orange County Health Care Agency closed off a section of Upper

Newport Bay on Monday after raw sewage backed up at an apartment

complex. It may have spilled into a storm drain, an agency

spokeswoman said.

The agency ordered the closure at 1:40 p.m. Monday, spokeswoman

Monica Mazur said. The agency closed 1,000 feet of beach at the

outcropping of land at Westcliff Park.

The spill ensued when sewage began to overflow at a 12-unit

apartment complex in the 1000 block of Rutland Road further upstream,

Mazur said. The apartments, known as Rutland Arms, are near Mariners

Park.

A Newport Beach sewage cleanup crew responded to the spill Monday.

The cause of the spill was not immediately known, Mazur said.

The apartment’s manager, when contacted Monday, said the spill was

probably caused by roots that had entered the line.

“It’s being fixed right now,” said the manager, who identified

himself only as Tom.

The beach will remain closed until water sampling from the area

shows that bacteria levels no longer present a health risk. Swimmers

and divers should stay out of the water for at least 72 hours after

the closing is put in place, Mazur said.

BMW set on fire in Newport on Sunday

A black BMW was damaged early Sunday morning after someone

reportedly wedged a gas-filled plastic bottle into the car’s

partially open sunroof and lighted it, according to a Newport Beach

police report.

A resident in the 500 block of Redlands in Newport Beach who works

for an auto shop in Costa Mesa said he had parked the BMW, a

customer’s car, on the street because there was not enough room in

the shop, the report said.

The man said he came out of his house when he heard a small

explosion at about 3:30 a.m. and saw the car on fire. He said he put

it out with an extinguisher. When police arrived on scene, there was

still smoke coming from inside the car, the report said. Crime scene

investigators found a 2-liter plastic bottle with a melted top in a

gutter behind the vehicle, it said.

Investigators found some gasoline inside the bottle and some in

the car, the report said. The fire and explosion had burned the car’s

headliner. The explosion reportedly caused the bottle to be propelled

out through the sunroof and into the gutter.