City worker spots blaze at house in...

City worker spots blaze at house in Newport Beach

A Newport Beach maintenance worker on a routine tide-valve check

helped prevent a fire from spreading early Thursday at a home in the

3700 block of Park Lane.

While checking tide valves around 38th Street and River Avenue on

the Balboa Peninsula at 2:20 a.m., city worker Frank Parnass spotted

a small fire on the roof of a home, and he knocked on a door of the

house.

When no one answered, he called police. Newport Beach police and

firefighters responded to the call.

A few roof shingles had somehow caught fire, and it took less than

30 minutes to put out the blaze, a Newport Beach Fire Department

spokeswoman said.

There were no injuries, and the cause of the fire is unknown.

Falling tree branch damages two cars

Two cars were damaged by a falling eucalyptus branch Wednesday in

Dover Shores, Newport Beach police said.

The branch snapped at 5:20 p.m., causing no injuries, Lt. Tom

Gazsi said.