Blaze causes sizable damage

No one was inside the home when the fire started. Flames were contained within 45 minutes.Fire investigators do not know what caused a two-alarm blaze that caused extensive damage to a Corona del Mar home Thursday, said Newport Beach Battalion Chief Dave Mais.

Firefighters from Costa Mesa and the Orange County Fire Authority joined Newport Beach firefighters in battling the fire that broke out at 1:18 p.m. in the 700 block of Poppy Avenue.

No one was inside the home when the fire started. The fire was contained within 45 minutes, officials said.

The home backs up to Buck Gulley, one of the city’s greatest fire dangers, Mais said.

“It’s a concern -- this gully will always scare us,” said Newport Fire Chief Tim Riley. Mild weather conditions Thursday prevented the roof embers from blowing into the canyon’s brush.

Matt Marston, 23, said his family has lived in the home for more than 20 years. He left the house about an hour before the fire broke out, he said.

“I was gone from the house for an hour and by the time I got back it had already started,” Marston said.

Neighbor Jack Anderson came home to find black smoke billowing out the house just two doors down.

“Fire is just an ongoing concern,” Anderson said of his neighborhood’s fire risks.

Investigators believe the fire started in a rear room on the home’s second story, but ruled the cause to be undetermined.

Fire officials do not suspect arson, Mais said.

The home will likely have to be rebuilt before anyone can live there, Mais said. 20051028ip1oarknDOUGLAS ZIMMERMAN / DAILY PILOT(LA)A Newport Beach firefighter hoses down a potential hot spot at the rear of a house on Poppy Avenue in Corona del Mar that caught fire on Thursday afternoon.