4 displaced by Thanksgiving weekend fire in Costa Mesa

Costa Mesa Fire & Rescue officials are investigating the cause of a residential fire that broke out Sunday evening in the city’s South Coast Metro area, engulfing a two-story home in flames and displacing four residents.

Department spokesman Capt. Chuck Torres said a call came in shortly after 6:30 p.m. about a structure fire on the 500 block of Traverse Drive.

“We got on scene and were encountered with heavy fire from the front of the house,” Torres said Monday.

“We started our initial fire attack, simultaneously performing a search of the structure. Then, we received reports that somebody was upstairs on the second floor, so we went into rescue mode.”

Fire crews battle a blaze at a home on Costa Mesa’s Traverse Drive Sunday evening.

(Courtesy of Costa Mesa Fire & Rescue)

With assistance from the Orange County Fire Authority and units from Newport Beach and Fountain Valley, crews battled the blaze and had completely knocked it down in about 15 minutes, by which time a resident of the home arrived on scene and officials determined all four of the building’s occupants were accounted for, according to Torres.

Firefighters remained on scene to ensure all embers had been doused and to investigate what may have caused the home to ignite. Torres said the fire was contained to the structure, and no other residences were damaged during the incident.

Four residents were displaced and were offered help from the Red Cross but turned down the assistance. The home has been red-tagged to prevent people from entering the building.

A house fire on the 500 block of Traverse Drive in Costa Mesa Sunday evening displaced four people.

(Courtesy of Costa Mesa Fire & Rescue)