BRIEFLY IN PUBLIC SAFETY

Fisherman reports seeing whale’s body

An experienced fisherman reported seeing a dead baby gray whale about eight miles off shore near Corona Del Mar early Monday.

Norris Tapp, manager of Davey’s Locker Sportfishing and Whale Watching in Newport Beach, said the fisherman is a good authority but when he went out later that afternoon, he could not find the animal. He searched for two hours up and down the coast almost to Laguna. The carcass could have sunk for awhile.

Tapp said this is the first time in the 24 years he has lived in the area, he has heard even a rumor of a dead gray whale.

He said there are myriad reasons the whale could have died. The mother and baby migrate 5,000 to 6,000 miles from where the calf is born in the warm lagoons of Baja, Mexico, north to the Arctic.

A Newport Harbor Patrol spokesman said the agency does not pick up the animal but leave it to nature.

Two-story home damaged by blaze

A two-story house on Acacia Avenue in Corona Del Mar caught fire early Sunday, causing $50,000 in damage.

At 5:44 a.m., firefighters responded to a 911 hang-up call placed by a resident of the house who was not injured and had fled the structure, according to the Newport Beach Fire Department. Firefighters were able to bring the fire under control within an hour.

The blaze’s origin was a water heater closet and the fire was caused by combustible items placed too close to the water heater’s pilot light.

Twenty-two firefighters from Newport Beach and the Orange County Fire Authority responded to the blaze as did Newport Beach Police Department units.