Fire causes damage to office building

Deepa Bharath

NEWPORT BEACH -- Smoke caused considerable damage when a fire broke

out in a two-story office building early Saturday morning, officials

said.

No one was injured in the blaze.

Nobody was in the building, located in the 1100 block of Quail Drive,

except for an employee who had dropped by his office to make a couple of

business calls before heading out to play golf, said Newport Beach Fire

Capt. John Blauer.

‘He was on the second floor, but he smelled the smoke and started

looking around,” he said.

The only indication he got of the fire at the time was when he noticed

the downstairs tinted windows were blacker than usual and felt hot,

Blauer said.

The employee called the Fire Department and when firefighters arrived,

the windows had started to crack and heavy, black smoke was billowing

through the first floor, he said.

The fire was contained in minutes and caused severe smoke damage to

the first floor and light smoke damage upstairs.

“It’s very lucky that the employee happened to stop by,” Blauer said.

“Otherwise, the damage could have been much more extensive.”

The fire originated in the first floor, but where and how is still

unknown and under investigation, Blauer said.

Responding to the fire were 22 firefighters in three engines and two

trucks, a paramedic unit and a battalion chief.