BRIEFLY IN THE NEWS Kitchen fire causes...

BRIEFLY IN

THE NEWS

Kitchen fire causes $70,000 in damage

A heated pot that was left unattended on a stove started a fire

that caused $70,000 in damages to a Corona del Mar home on Thursday

afternoon, Newport Beach fire officials said.

No one was in the house, and there were no reported injuries,

officials said.

Firefighters received the call at about 2:45 p.m. after a

passerby, a contractor for the local homeowners association, saw

smoke coming out of vents along the roof of the home in the 30 block

of Whitewater in the Jasmine Creek area, said Jennifer Schulz,

spokeswoman for the fire department. When he got closer to the home

he saw the kitchen drapes on fire and called 911, she said.

The man tried to put out the fire using a garden hose, but the

windows blew out because of the intense heat, Schulz said. It took 24

firefighters about 20 minutes to extinguish the fire.

Checkpoints set in Newport-Mesa

The Costa Mesa and Newport Beach police departments will conduct

separate sobriety checkpoints tonight.

Costa Mesa police will team up with California Highway Patrol

officers and set up the checkpoint on the northbound side of Newport

Boulevard at Flower Street. The checkpoint will operate from 9 p.m.

Friday to 2 a.m. Saturday.

Newport Beach police will have their checkpoint on the northbound

side of Jamboree Road north of Santa Barbara Drive from 9 p.m. Friday

to 3 a.m. Saturday.

Motorists will be given information about the dangers of drunk

driving. Both cities have also deployed special DUI enforcement teams

during the holidays.