BRIEFLY IN THE NEWS Nobody harmed...

BRIEFLY IN

THE NEWS

Nobody harmed in Newport condo fire

No one was hurt Sunday night in a Newport Beach blaze that

extensively damaged a condominium.

Four residents in the home on Hilvanar discovered the fire in the

water heater closet at about 8:45 p.m. Before firefighters arrived,

some of the residents tried putting out the fire on their own with

extinguishers, but made little progress, said Donna Boston, public

information officer for the Newport Beach Fire Department.

While the Fire Department does not encourage residents to try

extinguishing blazes, it did help firefighters in this case, Boston

said.

“What kept it from spreading was the fact that the residents did

try,” she said. “It stopped the fire from getting completely out of

control.”

The fire, however, still made its way into the attic, where it

burned additional belongings, she said. That created more problems

for firefighters, Boston said.

The extent of the blaze could have been more limited if the

residence had a working smoke detector, Boston said, adding that the

situation could have been fatal if the occupants had been asleep at

the time.

The residents were evacuated and unable to return to their home.

Neighboring residences suffered smoke damage, but were still

habitable.

Sewage spill closes waters near club

A spill of about 500 gallons of sewage Monday afternoon closed the

waters off Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club Marina, county health care

officials reported.

A city sewage collection system line became blocked, creating the

spill.