And now for the rinse

A small fire in a Newport Beach hair salon Friday afternoon created a traffic snarl on West Coast Highway and put a crimp in the scheduling for some neighboring hair parlors.

Six hair salons and other businesses were evacuated when a fire broke out at Dolphin Hair Design, in a two-story building at 2400 West Coast Highway.

A handful of women dressed in black salon robes ? many with foil still in their hair ? were stuck outside for more than an hour while 28 firefighters from Newport Beach and Costa Mesa put out the flames and made sure the structure was safe.

Many of the women were halfway through hair coloring treatments when they had to leave the salon.

Fire officials suspect an electrical problem, Newport Beach Battalion Chief Paul Matheis said.

Anaheim Hills resident Robin Rich had just gotten a “choppy shag” cut and was in the process of getting “dimensional highlights” at the neighboring David Nokes hair salon when the fire started. She had to have her hair rinsed out with a garden hose in the parking lot.

“They kept checking my foils,” Rich said of the hair salon employees.

If you leave the color in too long, it can create a color that’s “too blond,” salon owner David Nokes said.

“I was a little bit concerned because some of our colors were actually in process,” he said.

Rich said she was embarrassed to be out in public with her hair in foils.

The employees at Dolphin Hair Design had stepped out for a 20-minute break when the fire started, Nokes said. The employees came back from lunch to find black smoke billowing from their salon.

“They immediately screamed,” Nokes said.

Salon neighbor Jeffrey Heiden grabbed a fire extinguisher and sprayed it at the flames while others called 911.

“Jeffrey’s quick response really saved the day,” Nokes said.dpt.13-fire-CPhotoInfoS01QTILH20060513iz6dn7ncDON LEACH / DAILY PILOT(LA)Robin Rich waits outside the David Nokes salon, where she was receiving a hair treatment when a small fire broke out next door.