Victims of Anaheim Blaze Struggle to Rebuild Lives Six Months Later

Charlene Waller says her husband, Gerald, never got over the fire last July 3 in Anaheim that destroyed their apartment and 39 others. The Wallers did not have fire insurance and lost everything. Sometimes, when they watched taped newscast videos of the fire, they would get deeply depressed and cry, she said.

In early November, Gerald Waller, who would have been 52 on Friday, fell sick and died the day before Thanksgiving. The cause of death was listed as edema, a condition of excessive body fluids. His wife said she believes that the fire contributed to her husband’s death because it led him into a depression from which he never recovered.

“We had lost everything, and he was unemployed. He had more time than I did to think about it,” a weeping Charlene Waller recalled in a New Year’s Eve interview in an apartment a few blocks from her former residence. “I’m still trying to cope with it.”

More than 150 people were left homeless by the fire--which occurred six months ago today--that damaged or destroyed 70 apartments at the Casa de Valencia apartment complex on the 2600 block of East La Palma Avenue. The Anaheim Fire Department said the blaze started when illegal fireworks ignited the wood shake roof of the apartment building. In the end, the fire caused $2.2 million in damage, including $375,000 in personal losses.

Today, workers are rebuilding the burned-out portion of the apartment building. An official said a common attic that was blamed for helping the fire spread quickly will be converted into separate units for each apartment.

Although there were no serious injuries, those who were displaced say they continue to suffer the consequences.

More than 30 fire victims, including Charlene Waller, have filed complaints against the City of Anaheim, alleging that the Fire Department responded slowly and firefighting efforts were hampered by a faulty hydrant that had not been properly maintained by the city. The complaints are a legal step that precede the filing of a lawsuit.

The fire “should never have reached my house,” Waller said.

The city has denied any responsibility.

Irma Zucco, 57, and her husband Salvador, 62, who have also moved to a nearby apartment, said they were upset because the fire spread from the west side of the complex to the east side, where they lived, while firefighters were working on the faulty hydrant.

“We did not think it was going to come over to our apartment,” she said.

Ironically, she said she remembers that the apartment manager passed out flyers the day before warning residents not to play with fireworks because of the dangers with the shingle roofs.

Sirens Frighten Her

Although the Zuccos live just a few blocks away, Irma Zucco refuses to go near the Valencia apartments.

“To this day, when I hear sirens it scares the heck out of me,” Irma Zucco said.

Joseph Scatch, who lost everything in the fire, moved in August to an apartment on the south side of the Valencia complex, an area that was not burned.

Scatch, an elderly man who declined to give his age, said he was not interested in filing any lawsuits. He said he has insurance coverage, although he is still trying to collect payments.

“I lost all my photographs,” he said Friday. “My wife is deceased and I have no pictures of her.”

Scatch said all he wants to do now is return to his original apartment, where he had lived for 17 years.

Betty Popejoy, another elderly tenant who recently moved back to the complex, said she is not interested in any legal action. She was asleep on the night of the fire when someone knocked down her door and took her to safety, she said.

‘A Lot of Heroics’

“There were a lot of heroics that night,” Popejoy said, recalling a number of motorists who stopped on the freeway that overlooks the complex and rushed to help residents.

Among the heroes that night was Jaime Elizondo, 26, who was working at the 7-Eleven store across the street from the building.

Elizondo, who knew many of the building’s residents as customers of the store, said he began “pounding on doors” to awaken people.

Although he heard that he would be honored by the city for his heroics, “it never happened,” he said Friday. But Elizondo, a former Marine who dreams of becoming a police officer, said: “I don’t care. All I cared about was the customers getting out all right.”