Irvine : Auction to Aid Veteran Left Homeless by Fire

To benefit a paralyzed Irvine Valley College student left homeless after a fire this week, students and professors began plans Wednesday to auction items ranging from boxed lunches to a how-to-ride-a-unicycle workshop.

“Everyone has come forward. We all love him and we are concerned about him,” college public information officer Susan Clark said of Richard Pfost, whose Irvine apartment, along with all of his possessions, was destroyed in a fire Monday afternoon.

Pfost, 48, a veteran, was taken to the Veterans Administration Hospital in Long Beach on Tuesday because he cannot live without special equipment, such as an electric adjustable bed that was lost during the fire.

While school officials help search for a two-bedroom apartment for Pfost and his live-in aide, students and faculty are planning an auction Tuesday in the school’s courtyard, Clark said. Among the items to be auctioned will be an hour of private music instruction with Prof. Lesley Tung and a unicycle lesson from Prof. Richard Zucker, one of Pfost’s instructors, Clark said.

Meanwhile, a 14-year-old boy accused of setting the fire that destroyed two units of the six-apartment building at 2 Flagstone--with damage estimated at more than $100,000--was being held at Orange County Juvenile Hall, Irvine police said Wednesday. Police charged the boy with igniting the fire with paper towels dropped onto Pfost’s back porch.

Pfost was in school when the fire spread through his apartment and wiped out the new computer he used for his homework, medication, stereos and other personal items.

Students, faculty and staff had collected $400 as of Wednesday and are accepting donations to the Richard Pfost Foundation, 5500 Irvine Center Drive, Irvine, Calif., 92720. Contributions or inquiries can also be addressed to Bill Hewitt at (714) 559-3237 or Pam Davis at (714) 559-3238.