Neighbors open hearts to burned-out family

In the two years the Stanleys have lived on their quiet Anaheim Hills cul-de-sac, they hardly got to know their neighbors. When Michelle and Brian took afternoon walks along Morningstar Drive with their 4-year-old son, Andrew, in tow, they exchanged neighborly hellos, but not much more.

On Saturday, their home was destroyed by the Freeway Complex fire, one of a few houses that met a similar fate on Morningstar -- a street of large tract homes in a sprawling development lined with tall palm trees. Along with the house, the Stanleys lost most of their possessions, including Andrew’s toys.

As they returned Monday to see what they could salvage, neighbors began to trickle over. They brought bags of toys and books for Andrew and clothes for Michelle and Brian. They offered places to stay and invitations to dinner.

The Stanleys, much like hundreds of families across the Southland over the last few days, soon found that in calamity and tragedy, strangers can become fast friends.

As the sun began to set, Michelle Stanley, 42, stood on the sidewalk outside the charred remains of her home, playing with her son, as her husband went through the house with firefighters. A couple walking by with two dogs stopped to chat.

“Were you able to save anything?” the woman asked.

Michelle sighed. “Can you believe, my husband was able to find the one photo I brought with me from Taiwan when I came here eight years ago,” she said, smiling. “I was so happy.”

Andrew played with toy dinosaurs on the sidewalk, making roaring noises. Michelle told the couple that she was getting her hair cut when the fire came and that her husband didn’t have time to pack much other than Andrew before fleeing the flames.

The woman fished for a piece of paper.

“I want to give you my number,” she said, scribbling. “If you need someone to look after him. . . .”

It turned out the couple were Gail and Kerry Lehrbass, who lived a block away. They had never before met Michelle.

“We used to take walks around here,” Michelle said to the couple. “We probably walked right by your home.”

Throughout the day, neighbors dropped off toys for Andrew, who had told a TV reporter that the fire had burned all his toys

Nathan Hays, 14, and sister Lauren, 11, who lived a few blocks away, brought Andrew a Batmobile car, a dinosaur that made noise and some books. Nathan sat on the sidewalk and showed Andrew how to press the button to make the dinosaur roar. Their father, Shane, chatted with Michelle.

“It’s funny, we live in the same neighborhood,” Michelle said. “Every weekend, we shop at Costco.”

“We do too,” Shane said. “You look familiar. We’ve probably seen you there.”

For the next few hours, neighbors dropped by to share their own fire stories, to comfort and commiserate.

Michelle said she felt blessed to live in a neighborhood with so many caring people, even if it took a tragedy for her to discover it.

“We sometimes see neighbors and we just say hello, but we don’t really stay and chat,” she said. “You know how it is. Everyone is really busy. I’m sad that we have lost so much, but there are so many people opening up their arms and hearts. These things really warm my heart.”

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my-thuan.tran@latimes.com