Woman critically injured in apartment fire Saturday...

Woman critically injured

in apartment fire Saturday

A woman was critically injured Saturday night in an apartment

fire.

“The fire itself was relatively minor. Unfortunately, there was a

person inside,” Battalion Chief Jeff Latendresse said.

Firefighters received a call at about 11:17 p.m. that there was a

fire at an apartment in the 1700 block of South Coast Highway. Fire

authorities, said a 67-year-old woman who lives in the apartment was

in critical but stable condition as a result of the fire, and was

taken to the burn center at Western Medical Center in Santa Ana.

Four engines from the Laguna Beach Fire Department, along with an

truck from the Orange County Fire Authority made short work of the

blaze, putting the fire out in five minutes, Latendresse said.

However, the woman’s injuries were the most severe that Laguna

firefighters have seen recently.

“We haven’t had a burn injury like that in several years,”

Latendresse said.

The fire also caused $15 to $20 thousand in property damage,

Latendresse said.

Warnings, arrests made during DUI checkpoint

Police made a dozen arrests during a traffic checkpoint over the

weekend.

Assisted by volunteers from the Orange County Chapter of Mothers

Against Driving Drunk, police set up a checkpoint at the intersection

of South Coast Highway and Vista del Sol from 10 p.m. Saturday to 2

a.m. Sunday morning.

Officers counted 1,424 vehicles passing through the checkpoint and

stopped 520. All drivers stopped were given information about the

dangers of drinking and driving and police checked driver’s licenses

and drivers’ sobriety. Out of the drivers who were stopped, 21 field

sobriety tests were conducted.

Ten drivers were arrested on suspicion of driving while

intoxicated, and two were taken into custody for outstanding

warrants.

Police plan additional checkpoints at other locations during the

coming months.