Man’s body found in car fire

Officials found a Huntington Beach man dead Monday afternoon in a vehicle fire, officials said.

A witness called the Huntington Beach Fire Department at 2:55 p.m. Monday to the Pelican Cove apartment complex at 16960 Algonquin St. for a vehicle fire, said Martha Werth, department spokeswoman.

The fire sprinklers were active when 17 firefighters arrived at the underground parking structure, Werth said. It took about 12 minutes to put out the fire, she said.

When the smoke and fire subsided, officials realized there was a body in the vehicle and called in the Huntington Beach Police Department, Werth said.

The body is of a 59-year-old Huntington Beach man, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department’s Coroner’s records.

The man’s identity and further details aren’t being released until the coroner determines the cause of death, said Lt. Russell Reinhart.

No cause has yet to be determined for the fire, and police and fire officials are investigating the incident, Werth said.

— Britney Barnes