Small Fire Damages Harbor Island Home
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Fire caused by a construction worker damaged a $1.5-million Harbor Island home Thursday.
The worker was heating welding material with a blowtorch about 1:30 p.m. and dropped a piece of the material, which immediately sparked flames in the family room, said Battalion Chief Ron Sutherland of the Newport Beach Fire Department.
“He stomped on it and thought it was out,” Sutherland said. “But four or five minutes later, he saw smoke coming out of the house.”
A piece of the material had fallen into a crack between the walls, which made locating the fire difficult, Sutherland said. Nineteen firefighters took 20 minutes to control the blaze, which was limited to the family room and caused an estimated $2,000 damage, authorities said.
“The reason it took so long to control was because we had to cut a bunch of inspection holes to try to find where the fire was at,” Sutherland said.
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