Gusts Blamed for House Fire, Power Outages : Weather: ‘Typical Santa Ana conditions’ knock down about 50 power lines in Orange County. The winds are expected to continue.

Blustery winds downed dozens of power lines Thursday and ignited a fire that destroyed most of a three-bedroom home in Orange Park Acres.

The fire, which started about 9:49 a.m. at the 10500 block of Orange Park Boulevard, occurred after heavy winds knocked down a eucalyptus tree. That in turn toppled a power line, setting fire to a nearby palm tree. Embers from the burning tree then blew on the wood-shingled roof of the two-story home and caught fire.

Earlier in the morning, winds had toppled another eucalyptus tree outside the same house, in an unincorporated area in the hills near Orange. Southern California Edison workers were outside the home checking the power line when the winds toppled the second tree and brought the line down.

There was no dollar estimate on damage, but homeowner Judy Linnan said her house is worth about $600,000. Linnan, a psychologist who practices in Placentia, had eight pets at the house: two llamas, two potbellied pigs, two dogs and two cats. All of the pets were found safe, except for one missing cat.

No one was inside the home at the time of the fire, and the 50 firefighters who responded to the scene were able to limit most of the damage to that one home.

“After we put that fire out, our strike teams went down the block putting out small roof fires,” started by flying embers from the original blaze, said Capt. Dan Young of the Orange County Fire Department. “If we hadn’t done that, we probably would have lost at least half a dozen homes. We’re definitely not out of fire season, and with the winds like this, it could create very hazardous situations.”

Linnan, who raced home after a neighbor called to tell her about the fire, said she was grateful to the firefighters for keeping the fire from damaging the houses of her neighbors. Erika Morris, who lives across the street from Linnan’s house, also rushed home after a neighbor’s call. She collected many of her belongings, fearing that the Santa Ana winds would spread the fire quickly.

“I’m surprised the whole neighborhood didn’t burn down the way the winds were blowing this morning,” she said. “The firefighters did an excellent job because when I got here, the (other) house was totally engulfed in flames and firefighters were on my roof hosing it down.”

Orange County Fire Department spokeswoman Kathleen Cha said homeowners with wood-shingled roofs should take extra precautions during gusty conditions.

“If you have a fireplace and a wood-shingled roof, you should have a spark arrester on your roof, which is like a screen door for chimneys,” she said. “And if you have trees near or on a power line, you should call Edison if you believe it’s a fire hazard.” Crews will check for potential fire danger.

Thursday’s blustery winds, which were strongest near the canyon areas, are expected to continue today and possibly through the weekend.

“The winds are gusting higher than expected throughout Southern California,” said Curtis Brack, a meteorologist with WeatherData. “These are typical Santa Ana conditions.”

The strong wind conditions also downed about 50 power lines throughout the county, leaving thousands of residents without electricity for up to several hours, said Criss Brown of the Southern California Edison’s regional Orange County office.

Edison workers began responding to calls about downed power lines at 6 a.m., and worked throughout the day. About 4,000 customers were briefly without power, and 5,800 more experienced extended power outages in Santa Ana and the Orange area, Brown said.

Brown said there were three main trouble spots involving blackouts: at Chapman Avenue and Calle Grande in Orange, where 100 customers were affected for several hours; for 900 customers in the area near the fire, and for 100 customers in Tustin.

“It’s all because of the gusty winds,” Brown said. “The winds are slapping our lines together and trees are knocking them down.”

* FIRE IN MALIBU

High winds fanned a blaze in Malibu, causing two minor injuries. A3