Fullerton : 14 People Escape Harm by Fleeing House Fire

Two extended families consisting of 14 people escaped harm early Monday morning as they fled from a fire that gutted their rented wood-frame home at 109 N. Jefferson Ave. in Fullerton, city officials reported.

The blaze, which broke out about 5 a.m., made the small, one-story house uninhabitable and caused a total of $60,000 damage, said Sylvia Palmer, public information officer for the city. Fire officials said the two families who lived in the house consisted of 8 adults and 6 children. They lost virtually all their clothing and possessions, said Battalion Chief Jack Cooper.

“The building was fully involved in the fire when we arrived,” Cooper said. “Flames were coming from all four sides of the house. They (the families living there) were extremely fortunate they were awakened by the fire and able to get out uninjured.”

Palmer said the families had little with them except the clothes they wore as they fled the building.

“The families told firefighters they were asleep when the fire broke out but that they were awakened by the sound of the fire in the attic and ceiling,” Palmer said. “They all got out of the house without injury, and also no firefighters were hurt.”

Palmer said the Fullerton Fire Department had the blaze under control within 20 minutes. The cause of the fire is still under investigation “but was possibly caused by a faulty floor furnace,” Palmer said.

She said members of one of the families who lived in the rented structure are Israel Tejeda, 31, and his wife, Maria, 26; their three children, ages 8, 6 and 1, and the children’s two grandfathers and two of their uncles. The other family members are Richard Maciel, 26; his wife Luz, 19, and their three children, ages 4, 2 and 1.

The Orange County chapter of the American Red Cross said it is providing food, clothing and temporary shelter for the two families.