‘It Was Like Cyclone,’ Woman Says of Hellish Scene in Midst of Blast

Rose Sanchez had picked out a robe for her ailing mother and was standing by the cash register at the front of the Ross Dress for Less store Sunday when the earth began to shake.

“For a moment we thought it was an earthquake. Then ‘Boom!’ ” said Sanchez, 62, recalling the explosion that sent walls flying and flaming clothes hangers swirling overhead, creating a hellish scene inside the discount clothing store on West 3rd Street across from Farmers Market.

Besides Sanchez, who escaped the explosion with only a few bruises, a score of others were injured, including six people who remain hospitalized, one in serious condition.

No one was killed in the explosion of methane gas that demolished the store and has led to the closure of four square blocks in the Fairfax shopping district. Fire officials continue to work to control the hazardous gas still escaping through fissures in the earth at the site.

According to Sanchez, smaller explosions followed the initial blast, as she and several other women huddled together on the floor near the cash register.

“Suddenly we could see the sky through a large hole in the roof and air came rushing in, creating something like a tornado,” she said. “Flames were crossing back and forth above our heads . . . and debris were flying all around.

“It looked like it was raining fire. It was like a cyclone. Gusting air, screams, ashes, black objects flying around. It was horrible. Everything was on fire.”

The ceiling, which had blown off, began slowly to fall, she said. “We started crying and holding on to each other. That’s when I resigned myself to death.”

But then came “a terrible noise” and the women saw that the roof that was falling on top of them had been blown away, she said. “We were saved.”

“One woman stood up and said we should make a run for it.” Each of them grabbed whatever piece of clothing was at hand and placed it over their heads to shield themselves from the rain of fire, Sanchez said.

“We were running, jumping over the flames,” she said, with parts of their clothing ablaze.

As the women ran to the parking lot, another explosion knocked them to the ground. “We saw the earth crack and flames shooting out,” she said.

Once outside, however, the women were aided by passers-by and by firefighters who had arrived at the scene.

“I cried from the emotion and out of thanks to God,” said Sanchez, who is a Jehovah’s Witness.

A native of Ecuador, Sanchez works as a nurse’s aide at Magnolia Elementary School. For more than 20 years, she worked as a seamstress in the downtown Los Angeles garment district. Disconcerted by the experience, Sanchez said that she became temporarily confused and began calling for her daughter, who had not accompanied her on the shopping trip, but who Sanchez erroneously assumed was trapped inside the store. Her unfounded fear was partly responsible for initial reports by fire officials that two persons might have been trapped in the burning rubble.

On Monday, Sanchez returned to the scene of the explosion to retrieve her car. “I was amazed to find it safe and sound, like its owner,” she said.

Mark Gelbard, 79, who was also among the injured, was not as lucky.

The elderly man, who had stopped for an early dinner at a coffee shop across the street from the clothing store after visiting his children in the San Fernando Valley, was knocked to the ground by the impact of the explosion as he stood on the sidewalk after leaving the restaurant.

“I heard a terrific explosion. It knocked me face down on the sidewalk,” he said. The cuts to his face required several stitches.

The next day, when Gelbard returned to the scene to retrieve his prized 10-year-old black Ford LTD, which he had parked in front of the store, it was nowhere to be found.

“The police couldn’t find it (listed) in their computer and told me it had probably been stolen,” he said. “Why would anyone want a 10-year-old car with over 80,000 miles?”

The loss has left Gelbard without a ride to Hamilton High School, where he has worked with students as a volunteer tutor since his retirement from the Los Angeles County Road Department, for which he had worked as an engineer for 34 years.

6 Still Hospitalized

Besides Gelbard and Sanchez, 13 other people injured in the explosion have been released from various hospitals, according to Fire Department officials. Six remain hospitalized.

Benjamin de Leon, 58, who suffered deep facial cuts and a broken jaw, was reported in fair condition Tuesday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

Bonita Harris, 22, who suffered second-degree burns to 33% of her body, was transferred from Cedars-Sinai to Brotman Medical Center, where she was reported in fair condition.

Also at Brotman’s Michael Jackson Burn Center were Diane Lopez, 25, who was reported in serious but stable condition with burns to 50% of her body; Michael Armstrong, 26, in fair condition with burns to 30% of his body; Michel Mahoney, 29, in satisfactory condition with first- and second-degree burns, and Alan Wexler, 32, in satisfactory condition with scrapes and burns.