FIRE ON READING AVENUE in Westminster on Sunday morning (OCFA photo).

A pre-dawn fire in Westminster damaged a home but the person inside escaped alive Sunday morning.

According to the Orange County Fire Authority, the resident was asleep in a converted garage on Reading Avenue (near Bushard Street) but awoke to flames just after 5 a.m. and left the building.

Firefighters were able to knock down the fire in 20 minutes and kept it from spreading to adjacent homes.

Firefighter paramedics checked the resident for injuries but transportation to a hospital was declined.
The cause is under investigation; the Fountain Valley Fire Department assisted in the operation.