Deaths of Two Homeless Linked to Nighttime Cold

Cold temperatures gripped Southern California for the third straight night Saturday, the continuation of an unusual chill that has apparently caused two hypothermia deaths among Los Angeles’ homeless while threatening farmers’ crops and sending city dwellers scurrying for hand warmers and furs.

The deaths were reported one day after the City Council declined to act on a proposal to open city buildings to the homeless and Mayor Tom Bradley appealed to the public to donate blankets to help keep them warm. The deaths prompted bitter accusations Saturday that the city isn’t doing enough to feed and shelter homeless people during the cold spell, which began Thursday and is expected to continue for several days.

Police Saturday said a woman in her mid-30s, who was found lying on a Chinatown sidewalk, died Friday at French Hospital of a heart attack brought on by hypothermia. The woman, whose name was not released, was dressed in light clothing in the near-freezing temperatures.

A second transient, who was sleeping under a tree in Hansen Dam Park in Pacoima, was also found dead Friday morning, apparently of exposure, police said. Several witnesses, who were camped in trailers at the park, said the man was intoxicated and refused shelter with them, said Lt. Maurice Rubio.

Autopsies were still pending and the cause of each death had not been officially determined by coroner’s investigators.

“It’s unconscionable that two people have died,” Councilman Ernani Bernardi, who was unsuccessful in getting the council to open public buildings, said Saturday. “Good Lord, the city takes on liability every time a person walks into a public building, so there’s no reason we couldn’t open some of these buildings until this cold spell is over.”

Blankets Called Inadequate

“We are holding Mayor Bradley and the City Council accountable,” Susan Gosman, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Union of the Homeless, said of the deaths. “It’s callous to suggest that a blanket is truly going to save somebody living on the street in this weather.” The union and members of Tent City held a vigil on the City Hall steps Saturday evening for the two homeless people who died. Some protested the city’s refusal to open buildings to house those who have been unable to get into crowded downtown missions.

“I intend to run for councilman and change things,” said Steven Williams, 28, shivering under a thin pink blanket. Williams, who said he has been homeless for two years, sang spirituals to rally fellow protesters.

Bradley said Friday that the city could not offer shelter because of problems involving liability and safety. Bradley maintained that the city has spent $50 million in the last two years to help the homeless, but some volunteer groups estimate that only 10,000 of the more than 50,000 homeless have places to stay at any one time.

According to the National Weather Service, slightly warmer temperatures are on the way, as the low-pressure air mass that has chilled the area migrates eastward, and a high-pressure system building over the Pacific Northwest moves in its place.

Meteorologist Mark McKinley said temperatures would rise several degrees each day through midweek, as warm Santa Ana winds begin to blow across Southern California on Monday. Daytime temperatures should be near the mid-60s today. The downtown high Saturday was 60.

But night temperatures will continue to drop to the mid-30s in the Los Angeles area and to the 20s and teens in the inland valleys and outlying agricultural areas for the next several days.

The low in Los Angeles Saturday was 36--well above the record low of 31 recorded for that date in 1888. The temperature dropped to 25 in Ojai, 26 in Ontario, 22 in Hemet, 26 in Santa Barbara and 12 in Lancaster.

Southern California Gas Co. reported that customers set a Saturday use record by burning more than 4.6 billion cubic feet of natural gas.

Water Pipe Rupture

Cold weather was also blamed for the rupture of a large water pipe that flooded homes in Canyon Country Saturday, fire officials said. Several homes had to be evacuated at dawn when the pipe coming from a 2-million-gallon water tank ruptured.

The weather was a boon for some businesses, which reported brisk sales of everything from car batteries to mittens, but a peril to farmers, who were working to save their crops.

In Fullerton, the manager of Loma Vista Nursery estimated his loss at $20,000 after cold weather damaged much of his stock. In Westminster, a strawberry grower lost six acres of fruit to the frosty temperatures.

Citrus growers throughout Southern California were carefully monitoring the cold’s effects on their crops, which they hoped to save from frost by using large fans and heaters. A spokesman for the citrus growers said it would be several days before the damage could be assessed.

In contrast, business was booming for winter clothing outlets, which reported a surge in demand for items many Southern Californians do not own--warm gloves, hats and mittens.

Arctic Gloves

“People are really going for leather, and I mean the real warm, Arctic type of gloves,” said Glendale Sportmart’s manager John Schmidt. “I’m from back East, so it’s pretty amazing to me to see what people out here think is cold.”

Others found a way to warm up, California-style.

Nora Sullivan, assistant manager of Tanning Plus in Studio City, said her company was swamped with people seeking the comfort of artificial sunshine.

“This winter weather’s been just fabulous for us because when the cold hits they just flood in to escape it,” Sullivan said.

In Beverly Hills, people were fighting the frigid temperatures with fur.

Mike Tores, assistant manager of Flier Furs in Beverly Hills, said clients were pouring in to retrieve their stored minks, foxes and other fur coats.

Heavy Fur Coats

“Everybody’s coming in to get them out because of the cold,” he said. “They’re picking up the heavy coats, the big ones, the long ones. They aren’t taking any of the jackets or small pieces at all. We’ve been very busy.”

In stark contrast, Salvation Army volunteers were working along Skid Row to distribute more than 2,500 donated blankets, and to serve warm meals of lima beans, ham and sausage with thick slices of bread.

Standing in line for dinner at Harbor Light Mission, Lawrence Larson, 53, a former county clerical worker who has been sleeping mostly in parking lots for three years, said his toes and fingers have been stinging and burning of late, and he fears he may have frostbite.

Glenn Sanders, 33, said he hopes the city opens its buildings to the homeless, so he could use the $3 he spends each night to shelter himself in all-night movie theaters for meals.

Volunteers also spent the night traveling the downtown streets in two vans distributing the blankets along with hot soup. Many of the homeless were huddled on streets over makeshift trash can fires, inside flimsy cardboard boxes and in doorways to get out of the chilling wind.

More than 100 blankets were delivered to the Ward A.M.E. Church in South Los Angeles, where church officials provided shelter and issued a challenge for other churches to do the same.

The demand for emergency shelter increased 50% in Los Angeles last year, the highest of 25 cities, according to a recent survey by the U.S. Conference of Mayors. The emergency hot line for Los Angeles County was unable to find housing for 42% of those who called last year, the study found. Ironically, researchers said, many of the homeless gravitate to Los Angeles because of its usually balmy weather.

Councilman Bernardi noted that one possible answer would be to follow a program adopted in New York City. When temperatures hit the low 30s, the city sends buses throughout the city to forcefully take homeless people to shelters.

Times staff writer Alan Goldstein also contributed to this story.