‘Baby’ Goes First in Blaze Rescue

NEWPORT BEACH —  Some might call it a bad case of puppy love.

When 37 firefighters from three cities--sirens blaring and in full regalia--arrived early Saturday morning to rescue Sandy Matthews from a blaze sweeping through her second-floor apartment above a bakery, Matthews insisted that they take Baby first.

Firefighters tried unsuccessfully to change her mind before obliging. Gingerly they carried Baby, a shaggy poodle, down a ladder before returning to remove Matthews, 40, from her apartment on Main Street, a few blocks from the ferry launch on Balboa Peninsula.

Matthews was taken to Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach shortly after 3 a.m. She was treated for smoke inhalation and then released.

Baby is “just a little curly-haired dog,” said Bonnie Fulghum, a neighbor. “The flames were coming out of both windows. . . . I was afraid of an explosion.”

Fulghum lives in an apartment building, which she also owns and manages, across a narrow alley from the bakery building. By the time firefighters arrived, she said, she had already evacuated her tenants.

She was awakened by a loud knock, she said.

“The tenants saw the flames,” Fulghum said, “and I told them to get the Fire Department fast.”

Investigators said the blaze apparently started on the second floor. One apartment was gutted and several others severely damaged by smoke. Balboa Bakery, on the first floor, suffered water damage.