4 Remain Hospitalized After Care-Home Fire

COSTA MESA —  As fire investigators were trying to pinpoint the cause of a weekend fire that gutted a local board-and-care home, four elderly boarders remained hospitalized Monday after being rescued by neighbors from the blaze.

“As of right now, we don’t have an actual cause, but we know it was started near the clothes dryer,” said Susan Wood, a spokeswoman for the Costa Mesa Fire Department.

Wood said investigators will be doing more tests to determine whether the blaze was started by something combustible near the dryer, by an electrical spark or by some other, unknown, problem.

“As far as we know, there were no code violations” at the home, Wood said.

The fire started around 3:45 a.m. Sunday and caused at least $170,000 in damage to the home at 259 Santo Tomas St., fire officials said. The home is run by Julian and Lucy Syariff. The couple, their two children and a friend all escaped unharmed, but the home’s six boarders were able to get out of the house only with the help of four neighbors.

Of the five boarders hospitalized overnight Sunday, one, who was not identified, was discharged Monday from College Hospital Costa Mesa after treatment for smoke inhalation. The others remained hospitalized.

Jack Little, 72, and Leroy Stoddard, 70, were both in critical condition at UCI Medical Center in Orange, suffering from first and second-degree burns and the effects of smoke inhalation, a hospital spokeswoman said.

And at Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach, two unidentified boarders were listed in serious condition. No further information was available on their injuries.