CORONA DEL MAR TODAY

House Fire Injures Resident, Two Police Officers

UPDATED to add new information and correct some initial reports from the scene.

A two-alarm fire was reported at 2:38 p.m. today at 607 1/2 Marguerite Avenue, critically injuring a man who was rescued from a second-story window, authorities said.

One Newport Beach police officer sustained second-degree burns and smoke inhalation, and another officer suffered smoke inhalation, said Sgt. Mark Hamilton.

A police officer arrived at the scene 2 minutes, 18 seconds after the call was dispatched, Hamilton said.

Witnesses said the saw flames shooting from the home, especially from the western part of the home that abuts an alley.

One woman, who declined to state her name but said she lived nearby on Marigold Avenue, said she was about to begin a jog when she saw the flames and the victim.

“He was smoldering,” she said. “You could tell he had serious burns.”

A man driving to pick up children at Harbor View Elementary School stopped and tried to put out flames with a hose, witnesses said.

Other passersby saw the fire shooting out from the rear of the home.

“I just saw the flames coming up,” said neighbor Chris Pribonic. “They were probably about ten feet tall. There was lots of smoke.”

“All the flames were shooting out the top,” said Dave Buckholz, who passed the scene while walking his son home from Harbor View. “They were coming out the back, in the alley.”

Firefighters arrived on scene and called a second alarm, and a police helicopter from Huntington Beach was dispatched. Smoke filled the air in the neighborhood as crowds gathered.

“When our officer arrived, there was a male trying to get out a wind of the second story on the west side of the building,” Hamilton said. The man was pulled from the home by rescuers using a ladder, he said.

One officer suffered second-degree burns on his arm and smoke inhalation, another officer suffered smoke inhalation. The man rescued from the home also suffered smoke inhalation and burns.

“One person was rescued from the fire and transported to Western Medical Center,” a Newport Beach Fire Department email said. The man, 58, remains in critical condition, police said.

Nearby homes were evacuated, Hamilton said, but one home next door suffered minor damage — blistered paint and discoloration, said Assistant Fire Chief Kevin Kitch. Authorities were concerned about the danger of live electrical wires, and SoCal Edison officials were called to inspect for danger.

The fire was under control at 3:33 p.m., Hamilton said. Streets in the area remain closed at 5:30 p.m.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation. Detectives and arson investigators were at the scene along with a police crime scene investigation truck.

Harbor View students said they could smell smoke from the fire on campus several blocks away. School officials canceled afternoon recess and called students into the classroom because of the smoke, parents said.

Damage estimates were not available, fire officials said.