Crews contain fire damage

No one home when the afternoon blaze breaks out; fire officials suspect it started in furnace.Fire officials are investigating the cause of a two-alarm house fire in West Newport Monday. The blaze caused $200,000 in damages to a two-story home in the 300 block of 62nd Street.

No one was injured.

Homeowner Mike Oliver and his wife were at work and their 16-year-old daughter was at school when the fire broke out just before 4:30 p.m. Monday.

“Nobody was hurt and that’s all that matters -- the rest is just stuff,” Oliver said.

Even the family dog wasn’t at home -- Oliver had taken the dog with him to work Monday.

People walking by the house reportedly called 911 when they saw and smelled smoke, said Newport Beach Fire Division Chief Craig Chastain.

A total of 28 firefighters from Newport Beach and neighboring cities responded to the fire. Arriving crews saw heavy smoke coming from the attic and second floor of the house, Chastain said. Firefighters cut two holes in the roof to allow hot gases and smoke to escape.

Crews arrived in time to contain the blaze to the one house. In this West Newport neighborhood where homes are just feet apart, the outcome could have been much worse. If the fire had been reported any later, it may have spread to nearby homes, Chastain said.

“We were ready for that [the fire spreading], but that wasn’t an issue,” Chastain said. “Had the fire grown and we wouldn’t have caught it when we did, it would have caused problems with the two adjacent houses.”

Tuesday afternoon, Oliver stood outside the front door of his house amid piles of his family’s scorched belongings. One expensive antique was lost in the fire, but some valuable musical instruments were spared, Oliver said.

“The worst thing is memories -- pictures, that sort of thing,” Oliver said.

Oliver, who has lived in this house since 1981, said they’ll now have to tear down at least part of the house before rebuilding.

Insurance investigators swarmed around the house Tuesday afternoon, working to determine the cause of the fire. Fire officials are still investigating the blaze, but it is believed to have originated in the furnace, officials said.