Smoke Detectors Sound Alarm : 20 Flee Fire in Laguna Homeless Shelter

Fire caused $12,000 damage and gutted one room of a Laguna Beach homeless shelter Tuesday, but there were no injuries thanks to smoke detectors and the help of an off-duty police officer and one of the shelter’s staff members, authorities said.

The unidentified off-duty officer helped evacuate some of the 20 men and women from the Friendship Shelter for the homeless, Laguna Beach Deputy Fire Chief Rich Dewberry said.

Alice Graves, a staff worker at the shelter, alerted one sleeping resident, who was safely evacuated, Dewberry said.

The fire broke out about 12:30 p.m. at the shelter in the 1300 block of South Coast Highway, but it was quickly brought under control by firefighters, Dewberry said. There was heavy smoke damage to the building’s second floor.

Occupants were alerted by smoke detectors that sounded the alarm when the fire broke out, Dewberry said.

Cause of the blaze remained under investigation. Occupants returned to the shelter for the night after Fire Department officials pronounced the building safe.

“We’re all still here,” said David Peck, the shelter’s night supervisor.

The Orange County chapter of the American Red Cross provided replacement clothing for those whose clothes were damaged in the fire, Peck said.

The shelter is operated by Friendship Shelter Inc., a nonprofit organization that is buying the building, Peck said. It houses 20 residents, 14 men and 6 women.