Suspicious Fire Briefly Threatens Apartment Complex in La Habra

A vegetation fire of suspicious origin briefly threatened apartments and burned about an acre in a drainage ditch area near a baseball field Thursday afternoon, La Habra fire officials said.

There were “numerous reports of kids being down there before it started. Witnesses stated they saw smoke and kids running,” said Acting Fire Chief Ed Lazar.

The fire began shortly after 5:30 p.m. near Lambert Road and Idaho Street, on the far side of a baseball diamond, Lazar said. Firefighters had a difficult time reaching the blaze because “it was in the middle of an area we couldn’t get to,” and they had to lay lines from the engines to the fire, he said.

The fire came within about 100 feet of an apartment complex, but no structures burned and no one was injured, he said. Five fire engines and 17 firefighters were at the scene, he said.