Assistance Center Opens for Baldwin Hills Victims

Geraldine White, whose house was one of the 48 destroyed in the arson-caused Baldwin Hills fire July 2, was glad to hear Tuesday that the city may help homeowners like herself clear the blackened debris off their lots.

But for Mary Goldsmith, whose house was one of 18 that also were damaged in the blaze, the disaster assistance center that opened Tuesday at Dorsey High School was one more step in the agonizingly slow process of putting her life--and home--back together.

“I haven’t gotten any definite answers from anybody,” she said after applying for a loan.

The two women were among 46 victims of the fire to seek assistance at the center, which is operated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, along with state and local officials.

The center, which was toured by Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley, is one of five set up in response to President Reagan’s announcement last Thursday that seven California counties devastated by recent brush and forest fires were eligible for federal disaster assistance. The others are in San Diego, King City, Los Gatos and Big Sur.

All the centers will be open 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. through Saturday.

Representatives from the Small Business Administration were at the Baldwin Hills center Tuesday, taking applications for disaster loans. These are low-interest loans, at either 4% or 8%, for the uninsured portions of homeowners’ rebuilding costs.

Internal Revenue Service representatives also were present, accepting claims for immediate refunds on a portion of the victims’ 1984 income taxes.

State officials were available to take applications under a federal program that could pay up to $5,000 for replacement of clothing and other personal property if those items are not available through other sources.

Among city and county officials present were representatives from the city Department of Building and Safety, who said they are studying plans to remove debris from the damaged streets to see if they can reduce the homeowners’ costs.

An unknown number of applications were filled out Tuesday, officials said at the end of the day, adding that eligibility will be determined later.

Though Baldwin Hills is a largely upper-middle-income area sometimes dubbed the “black Beverly Hills,” a major problem confronting some of the fire victims, according to Steffan McCall of the Home Loan Counseling Center, a service supplied by a group of savings and loan associations, is under-insurance.

“Some of them only had insurance for the amount of the loan existing on their property,” McCall said at the center.

Many of the victims are elderly, on fixed incomes and bought their homes over 20 years ago, he said, “when they cost $30,000 to $40,000. One man told me he paid $18,000.”