Power surges may have sparked fire Power...

Power surges may have sparked fire

Power surges could have caused a fire that destroyed the bedroom

of a two-story Newport Beach apartment Tuesday evening, officials

said.

Firefighters responded to the call at about 6:10 p.m. and found

smoke coming from the second story, according to a report on the

incident.

The report said neighbors told firefighters that several in the

building on Lugonia had experienced power surges right before the

fire. Two neighbors said the surge protectors connected to their

computers had burned and melted to the floor.

Firefighters speculated that one such surge protector could have

caused Tuesday’s fire. The blaze was confined to the one bedroom, the

report said.

Fake bomb threat received at mall

Nobody was evacuated from South Coast Plaza Tuesday afternoon

after an anonymous caller phoned in a bomb threat to the plaza’s

security office, Costa Mesa Police officials said.

The phone call came in at about 1:15 p.m., Costa Mesa Police Lt.

Dale Birney said.

“The caller said that there was a bomb in the building and

everyone was going to die, or something to that effect,” he said.

Birney said security officers searched the building, but no

devices were found.

-- Deepa Bharath