Deserves more than an apple

Like a tardy student, Lincoln Elementary School special education teacher Charlie Fisher had to bring a note to school with him Wednesday.

It read: “Please excuse Charlie Fisher, he was being a hero and reporting a fire.”

In one of those situations where seconds count, Newport Beach firefighters credited Fisher with sparing none in calling 9-1-1 about a house ablaze in Corona del Mar on Wednesday morning.

“The early warning by the bystander at this fire significantly helped firefighters prevent more extensive damage to this home,” read the news release Wednesday from the fire department, giving accolades to Fisher.

About 8 a.m., firefighters received a call that a two-story home in the 500 block of Orchid Avenue was on fire with smoke pluming through the top.

No one was sure if somebody was inside, and Fisher was the first to check.

“My thought was that someone was inside,” Fisher said. “The door was really hot, so I kicked it in and bent down and yelled inside for anybody. All I heard was crackling. Unless I saw somebody on the floor really quickly, there was no way. It was really hot.”

Officials said the fire appeared to start in the kitchen, and no one was inside. The flames burned through the ceiling into the second floor.

Firefighters arrived minutes after Fisher’s call and called for a second-alarm, not sure if someone was inside. There were 26 firefighters in all, with some stationed on the roof cutting a hole for the heat to ventilate.

The home suffered about $150,000 in damage, officials said. The cause of the blaze is still under investigation.

Without Fisher’s quick thinking, it could have been worse, said department spokeswoman Jennifer Schulz, who penned the excuse note that Fisher handed to school officials.

He was on his way to work when he saw smoke in the neighborhood, soon realizing it was coming from the home and decided to check it out.

Fisher said that if he hadn’t been there, a nearby neighbor was only seconds away from calling 9-1-1.

“The guys who run into burning buildings are heroes,” Fisher said. “I was just a concerned citizen.”