Report of fire found to be burning plastic in oven

Firefighters examined the stove and found the source of the smoke, a “puddle of plastic on the bottom of her oven. Something that might have been on the rack could have melted or fallen down inside the stove accidentally,” Chief Skeels added. “Whether a small plastic dish or plastic film of some sort - we were unable to tell exactly - was the source of the odor and the smoke.”Firefighters set up a blower to rid the home of the residue of smoke and odor and “the job was done,” said Chief Skeels. Melting or burning plastic “smells, although I’m not sure how dangerous or nasty it was; it was a small quantity but it definitely had an unpleasant odor. Otherwise, it was a relatively quiet day for Santa Paula,” which has had a rash of house fires in recent weeks.The fires - two on Nov. 11 that hit a condominium complex on Orchard Street and a storage-guest area of a San Juan Street home as well as the kitchen ceiling in a Mill Street house that occurred Nov. 15 - were all accidental in nature, with two - Orchard and Mill streets - blamed on electrical problems and the third - San Juan - an overheated vent coming into contact with combustibles.