‘On Your Own’ : Fire Victims Can’t Turn to State or Red Cross for Much Help

George Podunovich poked through the charred rubble of the French country house in Hacienda Heights where he had lived for 29 years.

He peered into the debris, looking for gold coins or anything else that might have survived the devastating brush fire that swept through Turnbull Canyon, destroying his home and a dozen others Monday.

That mostly fruitless search was wearying enough. But the burly, 62-year-old cost analyst faced an even more dispiriting task: dealing with his insurer, contractors and government agencies while trying to rebuild his house and replace the legal and personal documents lost in the blaze.

No State Help Available

Neither the state Office of Emergency Services nor the American Red Cross offers any comprehensive help of that type to people who are wiped out by fire.

“You’re basically on your own,” said Keith Harrison, an Emergency Services coordinator. “The two things I always advise (disaster victims) is to contact your insurance agent immediately and contact the Red Cross.”

But the Red Cross, which provides shelter and food in the immediate aftermath of fires, lacks the staff to help homeowners through the intricate maze of government agencies in replacing documents or rebuilding, said Jennie Avila, director of emergency social services for the agency. She said the Red Cross has a checklist to help homeowners get back on their feet but cannot offer detailed advice.

“We’re not trained for that,” she said. “We’re not going to tell them to lie down on the couch and tell us their problems.”

Harrison said his agency is waiting for information on the amount of uninsured damage in Hacienda Heights before taking any action. He said that if some homeowners were without insurance or were underinsured, federal low-interest loans could be available.

Property Tax Reductions

Owners whose homes were destroyed or sustained at least $5,000 damage in the blaze were urged Thursday by Los Angeles County Assessor John J. Lynch to apply for reductions in their property taxes.

“Tax relief may not be uppermost on the minds of disaster victims right now, but this will help alleviate some of the long-range problems they face,” Lynch said.

Owners of the homes should, within 60 days, report their losses to the assessor’s office in the Hall of Administration downtown. They may pick up forms in regional offices in West Covina and South El Monte, Lynch said.

There is no system for helping homeowners to replace the documents they have lost, Harrison said.

“It is really up to the individual to deal with the various agencies,” he said. “There’s no central computer in Sacramento that can spit these things out.”

But if there is no assistance from the government, there are plenty of people offering help--for a price. The $4.3-million Hacienda Heights fire was hardly cold before free-lance insurance adjusters were canvassing the area where eight homes were damaged, offering to represent homeowners in extracting the maximum benefits from insurers and to arrange construction work.

Roy Livingston and his wife, Elinor, know something about that. Their home and seven others in La Verne were destroyed by a brush fire in December.

On Thursday, Livingston said he wished that he could write a book about his experiences so the families in Hacienda Heights could be warned of the pitfalls that undoubtedly lie ahead.

Like Vultures

“It sort of reminds me of a wounded animal with vultures overhead just waiting to swoop down,” Livingston said of his encounter with rebuilding, and he is upset about it.

The retired engineer said he is upset with firefighters, for failing to shut off the gas supply when his house caught fire; with the news media, for failing to report his complaints; with Southern California Edison Co., for shutting off his power after the fire and then trying to charge him $165 for a reconnection; with his insurer, for delays in responding to assess the damage; with his mortgage holder, for trying to talk him into a new loan he did not need; with a free-lance insurance adjuster, for making commitments that were not kept, and with a contractor, who was asked to remove debris but caused damage that is making the reconstruction more expensive.

Livingston said he hopes to have his home rebuilt by September. But many of the things can never be replaced.

“I don’t think you ever get over it,” he said.

Meanwhile, in Hacienda Heights, Podunovich, who was laid off from his job with a defense contractor in April, said he had been torn between seeking another job or taking early retirement.

Rebuilding a Life

Now, he said, clearly he will not be able to return to work for at least six months while he rebuilds his house--and his life.

Podunovich said he would not have lost everything if sheriff’s deputies had let him return to his home. He said he had left to make a phone call--telephone service had been disrupted--when the fire was a mile away, but then was denied permission to return.

“Before I left, I packed all my personal belongings, my papers and everything and set them on my bed,” he said. “I was going to come back after I made the phone call.”

Now he is faced with the task of replacing stock and bond certificates, his birth certificate, college diploma, job history and other documents of a lifetime.

“I had all kinds of pictures and slides that are irreplaceable,” he said. “I had a picture of my sister, who died years ago--the only picture left except the one that’s on her grave site. . . . It’s sad. You want to cry. All I have is the memory now.”

REPLACING BURNED DOCUMENTS Here is a list of businesses and government agencies that can provide replacements for destroyed documents. BANKBOOKS Local branch can provide duplicates for all accounts. BIRTH, DEATH and MARRIAGE RECORDS and CERTIFICATES Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder, 5557 Ferguson Drive, Los Angeles, (213) 974-6621. CITIZENSHIP PAPERS Immigration and Naturalization Service, 300 N. Los Angeles St., Los Angeles, (213) 894-2650. DRIVER’S LICENSES, VEHICLE TITLES or REGISTRATION CARDS Department of Motor Vehicles, Whittier office, 9338 S. Painter Ave., (213) 945-1151, or West Covina office, 800 S. Glendora Ave., (818) 575-8611. INCOME TAX RECORDS Internal Revenue Service, toll-free help number, (800) 424-1040. INSURANCE POLICIES Insurance agent will have duplicate copies of the policies and can furnish that information when the policyholder makes claim. MILITARY DISCHARGE PAPERS Department of Veterans Affairs, (formerly the Veterans Administration), local office in Commerce, 5400 E. Olympic Blvd., (213) 722-4927. PASSPORTS Passport Agency, the Department of State, 11000 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, (213) 209-7070. SOCIAL SECURITY or MEDICARE CARDS Social Security Administration, Whittier office, 7227 S. Greenleaf Ave., or West Covina office, 2934 E. Garvey Ave., (800) 234-5772. TITLES or DEEDS Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder, 5557 Ferguson Drive, Los Angeles, (213) 974-6611.