Santa Ana : City Sets Up Trailers for Businesses Hit By Blaze
To help the tenants of a shopping center that was gutted by fire July 11, city officials Thursday placed the first of what they said would be several temporary trailers to house the shopping center’s businesses.
Calling the portables “a positive note to an otherwise unfortunate situation,” Hank Cunningham, Santa Ana business industrial development manager, said the city is “doing everything possible to assist property owners and tenants.”
Meanwhile, Deputy Fire Chief William Reedy said his department continues its investigation into the fire. Some of the tenants at the Pioneer Town Shopping Center had complained that firefighters did not respond quickly enough and did not allow the business owners to retrieve valuables from the building at 1002 East 17th St.
In addition to trailers in back of Toy City, which is adjacent to the Pioneer Town site, Cunningham said city officials are working on assisting the businesses in applying for loans from the Small Business Administration.
The fire that gutted the 37,000-square-foot complex was “one of the worst fires we had in the city,” Cunningham said.
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