![]() ![]() Out of sight of the crowd, Kreza’s wife was given the American flag that his body was transported with to the coroner’s office, said Carrie Braun, spokeswoman for the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.Įmotional firefighters declined to comment to the media. The procession arrived at the coroners office led by several motor officers, followed by the coroner’s van bearing the body of the fallen firefighter, a half-dozen Suburbans with members of his family and his fellow crew members, and three Costa Mesa fire trucks with their lights flashing. A pair of OCFA suburbans with their lights flashing flanked the entrance. More than an hour before the procession began, a half-dozen fire engines lined the side of Santa Ana Boulevard next to the coroner’s office, including crews from Costa Mesa, the city of Orange, Newport Beach, Garden Grove and the Orange County Fire Authority.Ī half-dozen firefighters dressed in their blue uniforms helped unfurl a giant American flag, which was attached to a ladder on one of the rigs and raised above the entrance to the driveway leading to the coroners office. They saluted as the procession passed below, many accompanied by spectators. Two motorcycle officers led the way.įire engines and firefighters were staged on overpasses along the freeway as the procession traveled north. A news broadcast of the procession showed family members waiting outside the hospital as police officers and firefighters lined up and saluted alongside.Ĭosta Mesa fire engines followed the white minivan carrying Kreza’s body along with several other vehicles. ![]() The firefighter’s body was transported in a procession from Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo to the coroner’s office in Santa Ana. Scarpa, of Mission Viejo was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence. Multiple prescription medications reportedly were found inside the van. The driver, Stephen Taylor Scarpa, 25, was determined to be under the influence of a controlled substance, the Sheriff’s Department said. Kreza, who was training for an Ironman triathlon, suffered apparent trauma to the head and body and was rushed to a hospital. The cause of the fire is under investigation, O’Connor said.Sheriff’s deputies found Kreza unresponsive on eastbound Alicia Parkway near Via Burgos at about 8 a.m. He said he heard pops during the fire, and De Rosas said he heard a small explosion. Lopez, one of the 911 callers, tried to steer people clear of the burning area. “I thought it was a barbecue at first,” Lopez said. ![]() Shortly before, he’d been in his front yard when he noticed the smoke. Miguel Lopez, who lives across the street, saw De Rosas’s family running out of their home. “We got out just in time,” De Rosas said. His parents weren’t home at the time but the rest of them escaped unharmed. “I actually saw the flames in my face,” he said. He was in the house next to the one where the blaze started, which he shares with his parents, sister, brother and cousin.ĭe Rosas’s sister was showering when she saw the smoke from the window and ran out to notify the others. It primarily damaged two houses next to each other, leaving them blackened.Ĭhris De Rosas, a resident of one of the two damaged homes, waited across the street from behind yellow tape with his family. It took firefighters about one hour to get the blaze under control. ![]()
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