A 49-year-old man was taken into custody after the house he was in erupted in flames in Laguna Hills Wednesday morning, officials said.
Authorities originally responded to reports around 10:30 a.m. of a man who’d thrown a boat propeller through the windshield of a car in the 27000 block of Greenfield Drive, according to Orange County sheriff’s and fire officials.
Richard Quintilone is suspected of running inside the home and setting the fire after deputies responded to the neighborhood.
Officials then treated the incident as a barricaded situation, and firefighters couldn’t go into the home over concern for their safety, Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Craig Barta said.
Aerial video showed firefighters working to put out the blaze, which caused a partial roof collapse. Several Sheriff’s Department vehicles and deputies were also at the scene.
Area homes were evacuated. Around 12:20 p.m., residents on a nearby street alerted authorities that Quintilone was in their home, deputies said.
He was subsequently arrested and booked on suspicion of felony arson.
Officials did not report any injuries in the incident.
