Letters of Grief Pour In for Parents in Day-Care Tragedy

The letters spill across a desk in Will Johnson’s mortgage loan office in Anaheim.

Postmarked from all over Southern California, they have nothing to do with home loans.

Instead, they describe the shock and sorrow other parents felt after learning that two small children had died Thursday in a Huntington Beach fire.

“This is all I have to my name right now,” wrote a woman from Tustin who sent $23. “Nothing can bring Jessica (Jordan) back, but maybe it will help out a little.”

A woman from Pacific Palisades said: “I cannot express the grief I feel. I have an 8-month-old daughter, and I held her as I cried watching the news.”

Johnson and his wife, Laurie, have been running the Huntington Beach Fire Victims’ Fund for families of those who died or were injured in the blaze. And, the couple said Tuesday, they have been greatly moved by the response.

The fund has so far received more than $2,000 to help cover medical or funeral expenses, mostly in $10 and $20 donations, but some larger. Customers at the beauty salon where one victim’s grandmother works sent $30. The Huntington Beach Fireman’s Assn. contributed $1,000.

As generous as the donations have been, the Johnsons said they were not expecting the letters that accompanied them--at least 60 so far, many of them inspirational.

“It’s been part of the healing process for everyone in the office to read some of these,” Laurie Johnson said. “For all the world’s sorrow and tragedy, people can be wonderful. And I have a feeling this is just the beginning. I think more will be coming in all week.”

Will Johnson established the fund last week after learning that employee Susan Jordan’s daughter, 8-month-old Jessica, died in the fire at a licensed family day care in Huntington Beach.

Also killed was 13-month-old John Reilly.

Jessica is to be buried at 3 p.m. today in Good Shepherd Cemetery in Huntington Beach, according to a funeral home spokesman. A requiem Mass is to be said for John at 10 a.m. today at St. Bonaventure Church, 16400 Springdale St., Huntington Beach.

Meanwhile, day-care operator Pat Orozco, who ran from her burning home with a child under each arm, was reported in good condition Tuesday at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center with second-degree burns on her arms and shoulders.

Six-month-old Nick Duncan was reported in serious condition at UCI Medical Center in Orange with second- and third-degree burns.

Also Tuesday, deputy city attorneys in Huntington Beach began drafting an ordinance that would require every day-care provider to install a smoke detector in each room.

“We’re going to try to get this done by Friday and to the council Monday,” deputy City Atty. Joe Barron said.

If the council approves it as an emergency ordinance, with five votes, the measure would become effective immediately, Barron said; otherwise, the ordinance would take up to 45 days to take effect, if approved.

Orozco’s three-bedroom home was not equipped with a smoke detector, but state codes conflict on whether these are required. State day-care licensing requirements allow providers to use either smoke detectors or fire extinguishers. However, the state building code requires family day-care providers to have both fire extinguishers and smoke detectors.

Huntington Beach fire investigator Tom Huntley said Tuesday he has concluded his investigation. The blaze was started by a child playing with either a cigarette lighter or matches, he said. Then a chair caught fire, as did nearby reading material.

No criminal charges will be filed, Huntley said, because the person who started the fire is a minor and “below the age of knowing right from wrong.”

To assist victims of the fire, write to Huntington Beach Fire Victims’ Fund, c/o Mortgage Network, 2400 E. Katella Ave., Suite 1040, Anaheim, Calif. 92806.