Residents of mobile home park return for quick look at fire damage
LOS ANGELES — Stacks of charred bricks, blackened shells of cars and burned tree trunks were all that remained Monday in much of the community that some residents once called the “Beverly Hills of mobile home parks.”
The residents, mostly retirees, returned to see what was left of their homes in the Oakridge Mobile Home Park, where hurricane-strength winds blew a wall of fire through nearly 500 manufactured homes and set them ablaze so quickly that even firefighters had to run.
“It looks like a war zone — no trees, no buildings,” said Michele Warneck, 54, who burst into tears after returning from the park.
Once considered a paradise with swimming pools and tennis courts, the park was being searched by cadaver-sniffing dogs for anyone who didn’t escape. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said that search ended Monday afternoon with investigators finding no evidence anyone perished.
The inferno destroyed 484 homes Saturday in the park. Firefighters were able to save about 120 homes, but many were extensively damaged.
The fire was one of three that have destroyed about 1,000 homes and apartments, and burned 41,000 acres, forcing thousands to flee.
Most evacuation orders were lifted by Monday, when clear skies and calm winds allowed firefighters to make some gains. But officials warned of another bad air day, and classes were canceled at dozens of schools near fire zones in Orange County.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger sent a letter Monday to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, seeking a disaster declaration. He said the state needs help cleaning up debris and protecting burned properties from potential flooding. He said many affected residents don’t have sufficient insurance.
In Sylmar, residents stood in line outside a high school gymnasium for tours of the charred mobile home park.
Those whose homes were destroyed were shuttled through the neighborhood in a black van. Police still were investigating the fire, so people weren’t allowed to get out and sift through the ashes for scraps of their belongings.
A separate set of white police vans ferried residents whose homes remained standing so they could gather medication and other essentials.
The largest of the fires has burned more than 28,000 acres in Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Los Angeles counties and has destroyed more than 250 homes and apartment units. San Bernardino became the fourth county declared a state of emergency.
The first of the wildfires broke out in the Montecito area of Santa Barbara County, about 90 miles northwest of Sylmar.
The causes of all the fires were under investigation, although officials labeled the Santa Barbara-area fire “human-caused,” said Doug Lannon, a spokesman with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
He said the fire started in a Montecito landmark known to be a popular hangout for teenagers. He said someone might have been smoking in the brush or started a campfire there.
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