Stanton Man Dies in Fire at Mobile Home

A Stanton man died early Thursday in a mobile home fire that authorities said may have been ignited by a cigarette.

Wayne Wilson Reese, 59, was found about 5:42 a.m. after firefighters extinguished a blaze that gutted his unit at Villa Capri Mobile Home Park in the 8000 block of Stanford Avenue, said Paul Hunter, a spokesman for the Orange County Fire Authority.

“An eyewitness put him in a chair at the point of origin smoking a cigarette about 11 p.m.,” Hunter said. “The fire had been burning for quite some time prior to being reported at 5:30 a.m. It was a slow, smoldering, ongoing fire that finally broke out into a raging fire.”

Investigation into the cause of the blaze, Hunter said, was temporarily slowed by the discovery of a case containing handguns and ammunition apparently belonging to Reese. During the fire, Hunter said, “You could hear popping noises. In all likelihood they were bullets.” As a result, he said, the Orange County Sheriff’s bomb squad was summoned to remove the explosive items.

But there was no evidence, Hunter said later, that the firearms were illegal or in any way connected to the blaze. “They were just regular handguns and the typical ammunition that a homeowner might have,” he said. “There was a fair amount but nothing unusual or unique.”

No other units were involved in the fire, which caused about $75,000 worth of damage, investigators said.

What the incident shows, Hunter said, is that, “If people have to smoke, they should make sure that the cigarettes are completely out and disposed of properly before they go to bed. They should never leave cigarettes unattended. Falling asleep while smoking cigarettes is a bad combination.”