Community Rallies to Aid Fire Victims : 2 Families Lost 6 Children in Blaze

Joseph Medina knew he had made a lot of good friends over the 34 years he had spent in Montebello hanging out in car clubs, on baseball teams, working construction and raising five children.

But he was not prepared for the outpouring of community support he received from virtual strangers Saturday, nearly a week after the fire that took the lives of his three young daughters and one stepdaughter.

Several Eastside residents--some lifelong friends, others distant acquaintances--organized four car washes in East Los Angeles and Montebello Saturday to raise money for Joseph and his wife, Gloria, and for Rachel and Armando Lopez, who also lost two daughters in last Sunday’s fire.

Medina, his face and hands badly burned, spent much of the day wrapped in tearful embraces. He stood on the sidelines, watching the cars being washed in the parking lot of the Montebello YMCA.

‘People Care’

“That’s what’s giving me strength-- all these people,” Medina said.

“It’s like a big hole they’re filling for me that I have in my heart,” he said. “It makes me feel so good that people care. If my girls could only see this now.”

Then he paused, looked around and decided, “I think they can.”

Medina’s daughters--Danielle, 9, Racquel, 7 and Joi, 5, and stepdaughter, Aida Borunda, 18--were fatally burned, along with family friends Mandie Lopez, 10, and Racquel Lopez, 6, in a fire caused by a smoldering ash from some smoking material.

The fire broke out just hours after the family had celebrated the birthday and baptism of 1-year-old Jacob Medina. Jacob was the only child spared, having been taken to spend the night at his grandmother’s.

One of the only possessions undamaged by the blaze was a box containing a smoke detector found in a front hall closet.

The fire propelled community members last week to circulate flyers, sell car wash tickets and elicit donations from companies to help the Medinas and Lopezes.

“I couldn’t bring the children back, and I had to do something,” said Liz Cuellar, organizer of a car wash held at a Chevron Station in Montebello. “What makes us all human is opening our hearts to someone else.”

Hundreds of people from as far away as West Covina and Rialto came out to have their cars sudsed and hosed by an estimated 100 volunteers ranging in age from 4 to 50. Some who donated $5 for a car wash parked their just-cleaned cars, grabbed hoses and went to work themselves.

One young woman came back to the car wash three times, each time bringing a different relative’s car. An elderly couple arrived by bus to donate $25 and mingle with the others. There were anonymous donations of $500 and $1,000, and Los Lobos, the East Los Angeles-based rock group, pledged $2,000 to the families.

‘Little Kids’

“I didn’t even know the people, but just the fact that they were little kids and didn’t have a chance brought me here,” said Virginia Coop, with her 2-year-old son, Sammy, in tow.

“I knew the family for years,” Beatrice Lugo said. “I feel good about helping a family that needs my help.”

Art Sanchez, an Army paratrooper, whose daughter was a friend of the Medina girls, said as he scrubbed: “The grass needed cutting, trees needed trimming, but they can wait. This is one shot in the arm for the family.”

Some of the volunteers had attended the Medina family’s celebration last week and were still reeling from the suddenness of the tragedy.

“I was at the party; my children were playing with their children,” Lugo said. “The next morning when we heard what happened, it was just devastating.”

Over at the Montebello YMCA, rap music sounded from a deejay’s stereo and children clambered over car hoods as their parents scrubbed, rinsed and toweled the cars. Waits of up to 30 minutes for a wash didn’t seem to put anyone in a bad mood, nor did the less-than-perfect wash jobs.

“Look at our lousy car wash,” said Richard Lugo, pointing to some small children squirting already washed cars with soap. “I don’t think people really care about clean cars, it’s just for the cause.”

Organizers hoped to raise $15,000 and were about $9,000 on their way by mid-afternoon Saturday, Lugo estimated.

The Montebello Fire Department has also set up a fund. Anyone interested in contributing can telephone (213) 722-7804.