BREAKING NEWS

Another Laguna Beach “cliff-hanger” home has been destroyed by fire, this one in the early morning hours on Saturday, Dec. 27.

Two occupants and three cats escaped, but the four-level ocean view home in the 2000 block of Park Avenue is a total loss after a fire that started in a laundry room apparently burned for hours, according to police and fire officials.

It is the second fire in a multilevel cliffside home in two weeks in Laguna Beach. The first one occurred Dec. 18 in Mystic Hills.

Laguna Beach Fire Chief Mike Macey said the fires are not related, and in both instances appear to be the result of combustible materials stored near a furnace.

In such homes, fires can burn undetected for some time in lower quarters and by the time they are noticed they have built up a lot of heat, Macey said.

In the Park Avenue fire, firefighters had to turn back from entering the home because the conflagration was so intense, Macey said.

“There was a lot of fire when the units arrived,” he said. “They were driven back by heat.”

The fire was called in at 4:09 a.m. and was reported knocked down at 6:14 a.m., according to police records.

Homeowner Rosalind Russell, who has lived in the home for 29 years, fled the flames with her housemate, wearing only pajamas.

On Monday morning, Russell — known as “the goat lady” for her charity work providing life-sustaining livestock to poverty-stricken women in Nepal — was wearing clothing and shoes given to her by the Red Cross.

“Now it’s my turn,” she said of her plight. “The firefighters asked what I wanted from the home, and all I said was ‘get my bras.’ Now I have 20 smoky bras.”

Russell said she had tried to fight the fire herself with a fire extinguisher before calling “911.”

Russell, who is a minister, said about all she had been able to retrieve was her Bible and a few books.

She said that many of her friends have called to offer assistance, and that she is looking for a place to rent in Laguna Beach — preferably with an ocean view.

“There’s a lot of goodness and kindness out there,” Russell said.

Russell may be contacted at starkitty@gmail.com