Fire at center forces patients to evacuate

A small fire Sunday night at the Fairview Developmental Center in Costa Mesa caused 24 patients to be evacuated from the facility. No one was reported injured in the incident.

The Costa Mesa Fire Department sent multiple engines and trucks to the facility, along with about 22 officers, but by the time they arrived, the blaze, which had started in a patient’s room, was extinguished, city fire officials said.

About 500 severely developmentally disabled people live at the state-run facility, which provides 24-hour skilled nursing for the patients.

“This was a small fire, and nobody was in immediate danger,” said Sandy Gonzalez, the assistant to the center’s executive director.

The patients who were evacuated were temporarily relocated because of water damage to their rooms, she said.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, authorities said.

— Alan Blank