Newport Beach apartment fire injures two

Deepa Bharath

An early morning structural fire in Newport Beach injured two

residents, gutted a bedroom and damaged other rooms of a second floor

duplex barely three doors away from the fire station in the 100 block of

Balboa Boulevard, officials said.

Firefighters received the call about 7:30 a.m. and at the same time

saw a frantic resident running down the street toward the fire station,

said officials at the Newport Beach Fire Department.

The fire, believed to have originated in the back bedroom that was

completely torched, was put out in about 15 minutes. Six people were in

the three-bedroom, two-bath apartment when the incident happened.

Two people suffered burns to their hands and feet, and one of them

also suffered from minor smoke inhalation. Officials identified the

victims as Rachel Clarke, 26, and Bryan Goland, 26. Both were taken to

Hoag Hospital.

Officials said one of the residents initially thought the smoke

detector was malfunctioning when the fire alarm went off, but quickly

realized that smoke was filling their home. All residents immediately ran

outside.

The extent of damages is not known yet. Twenty five firefighters from

Newport Beach and Costa Mesa fought the fire.