Woken by fire alarm, man escapes apartment blaze

A man escaped from a burning apartment Monday afternoon, and firefighters rescued a dog from a nearby unit that had begun to fill with smoke, authorities said.

The man was asleep in a ground-level unit of a triplex in 1800 block of Viola Place around 2:20 p.m. when his fire alarm woke him, Costa Mesa Fire Department Capt. Chris Coates said.

When the man opened his bedroom door, he saw thick black smoke, so he closed the door and climbed out of a window, according to Coates.

Coates said the fire alarm likely saved the man’s life, and the quick warning helped the firefighter stop the flames from spreading very far.

“He would’ve kept sleeping, and who knows how extensive it would’ve got,” Coates said.

Firefighters arrived at the apartment within about five minutes and began attacking the blaze.

They had the bulk of the fire under control within 15 minutes, Coates said.

Crews were able to stop the flames from extending to the second-story apartment above the unit where the fire began.

Firefighters found a dog in the unit above and were able to save it from smoke that had begun filtering into the apartment, Coates said.

They rescued the pet and reunited it with its owners, Coates said.

Crews are still investigating what caused the fire and have not yet determined a dollar estimate for how much damage the flames caused.

Coates said there was extensive fire and smoke damage on the ground floor.

Crews were about to venture back into the second-story unit to check on tropical fish the residents were worried may have been harmed by the smoke, he said.