Three people robbed at knife point Three...

Three people robbed at knife point

Three people were robbed at knifepoint Saturday morning on Heil

Avenue, police said.

A 22-year-old man and a woman, also 22, both from Huntington

Beach, and a 19-year-old Garden Grove man were accosted at about 10

a.m. in the 4700 block of Heil Avenue. No one was hurt in the

robbery.

Police are still looking for two suspects. One is described as a

man, 5-foot-10, about 24-years-old, with a thin build, dark short

hair, and a goatee, wearing light-colored shorts and a blue shirt.

The other is said to be a clean shaven man, about 22, wearing a blue

T-shirt and beige shorts. No witnesses have come froward. Anyone with

information, is asked to call Huntington Beach police at (714)

960-8811.

Body of missing swimmer turns up

A missing swimmer who was last seen heading out in Huntington

Beach was found dead in Seal Beach on Saturday.

Hon Son Pham, 30, of Garden Grove, was discovered in the ocean in

the Surfside area of Seal Beach at about 6:59 a.m. Saturday, Seal

Beach Sgt. Ron Lavelle said. Pham, who apparently drowned, was

identified by a fingerprint.

The Orange County Coroner has not yet determined the exact cause

of death and will conduct additional investigations before officially

declaring that Pham drowned, though there is no evidence so far of

foul play.

“At this point we’re going to conduct further tests, but nothing’s

notable, nothing’s standing out,” deputy coroner Rod Thomas said.

Pham’s wife reported him missing Aug. 17 after he did not show up

for work. His car was found parked near Huntington City Beach.

Firefighters earn top marks for safety

The Huntington Beach Fire Department received the highest possible

rating on a report card that tracks firefighters’ ability to keep

Surf City safe.

The department received a Class 1 rating in a report completed by

the Insurance Services Office, a company that keeps tabs on risk

statistics for the insurance industry. This was the first time

Huntington Beach firefighters earned top marks. In 1990, the last

time the fire department was evaluated, the city earned a Class 2

rating.

“We’re very honored with this,” Fire Chief Duane Olson said.

Only 42 fire departments in the country are rated as Class 1

agencies.

The report evaluated the city’s alarm and communication system,

fire department staffing and water supply. Olson said improvements

made to the city’s firefighting capability since 1990 include the addition of a new fire station on Edwards Street in 2000 and the 1993

addition of ambulances to the department’s fleet.

The department now staffs paramedics on fire engines at all eight

fire stations, a change from the older policy of assigning paramedics

to four vans scattered across the city.

“Now we have paramedics in each of our stations,” so the response

is much quicker, Olson said.

There has been a significant decrease in the annual rate of fires

in Huntington Beach over the past 15 years, Olson said. In 1989, Surf

City firefighters responded to 1,250 blazes. Less than 300 fires have

been reported so far this year. The last fire-related death in

Huntington Beach was in 2001.