From Scouts to Surfers, They Pitch In

Southern Californians responded with energy and compassion the last time Los Angeles burned, and they turned out for their neighbors again on Thursday with the same intensity as the street-sweeping brigades that cleaned up after last year’s riots.

Churches, hotels and private homes throughout the region became refuges for the newly homeless. Surfers in Ventura County set down their boards to help owners cart family treasures out of multimillion-dollar beachfront homes. Boy Scouts from Pasadena stood ready to help where needed.

Even those facing tragedy themselves, like Craig Caputo, 22, who lost his home in Laguna Beach to fire, tried to help neighbors avoid the same fate. With a bandanna tied over his nose and mouth, Caputo used a skateboard to get past roadblocks to the front lines.

“We were sitting around and we couldn’t stand it,” said Caputo’s boss, Bobby Friedman, who worked alongside him. “We decided to go help people.”

Some volunteers worked alongside authorities in the danger zones and crept perilously close to the flames. Despite strained backs and eyes irritated by airborne ash, they said there was no way they could stay away.

“We see the best in people during something like this,” said Red Cross spokeswoman Carol Ditmore, who said that scores of people had called the agency to offer aid. So many people in the Pasadena area had offered clothing, spare rooms and cash that the Red Cross started a waiting list.

Brothers Jeff and Dave Day saved their homes in Aliso Viejo and Laguna Beach, so they helped others the best way they could. They loaded up a van with pounds of gourmet coffee--vanilla hazelnut, chocolate macadamia nut and Costa Rican beans--and offered cappuccino and espresso to fire crews in Laguna Beach.

“These guys are great. They saved our butts when we ran out of coffee,” said Jonathan Gilbert, who worked at a nearby Red Cross site.

After a helicopter tour Thursday, Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan called on city residents to donate money, food, clothing and toys.

“Comparatively speaking, Los Angeles was very lucky,” Riordan said. “We only had one fire, in Chatsworth, which did not destroy any homes and which was contained almost immediately (Wednesday). All our neighbors in Laguna Beach, Altadena, Thousand Oaks and other areas have not been so lucky.”

At the First African Methodist Episcopal Church, there was a reversal of the situation of 18 months ago, when donations came in for riot-torn neighborhoods. This time, it was residents of the inner city offering help to the fire-weary suburbs with clothing, bedding and food. A new program was born--FIRE, for First Inner-City Relief Effort.

In Pasadena, Mike Henderson used the fires as a way for the 15 Boy Scouts in his troop to fulfill their motto: “Be Prepared.”

The members of Troop 24 offered to help residents clean up the rubble over the weekend. “We’ll do just about anything,” Henderson said. “We’re not picky. This doesn’t qualify for a merit badge, but it is what Scouting is all about.”

Corporations also stepped forward. They ranged from small animal shelters offering free boarding for displaced pets to GTE and AT&T;, which set up free mobile telephone units in hard-hit areas for those who lost their homes.

A New York City stockbroker, Mickie Siebert, pledged a gift of nearly $24,000--commissions she recently received from doing business in California. “I saw the fire on television,” she said. “I couldn’t get it out of my mind.”

Irvine Co., a large landowner and developer in Orange County, gave $250,000 to the Red Cross and offered to house displaced residents in vacant apartments. Del Amo Fashion Center in Torrance gave $50,000 to the Salvation Army, and Hyatt hotels in Los Angeles, Orange and Ventura counties offered discounted room rates for authorities and evacuees. Robinsons-May made a $25,000 contribution to the Red Cross to help fire victims.

Times Mirror Co., the corporate parent of the Los Angeles Times, made a $50,000 contribution to the Red Cross. The Times plans to solicit donations from its employees for food and clothing for fire victims, a spokeswoman said.

Elsewhere, Jack Shakely of the California Community Fund, which is raising funds for fire victims, said, “We’ve learned that disasters are not over when the blankets are all passed out. In many ways, that’s when the real work begins.”

Where the fires raged, the equipment was pretty much the same as that used in the post-riot volunteer response. Gloves, shovels and hoses were in demand. And similar motives drew them to the disaster zones--shock at the television images, sorrow for the victims and a desire to help.

John McDonald, 35, a South Laguna resident, drove to the center of the action in Laguna Beach to offer his aid. Eyes watering from the smoke, he helped firefighters drag their heavy hoses, directed traffic and helped residents remove valuables from their homes.

Armed with a shovel, John Gaines of Laguna Niguel was another who became a firefighter for a day. He searched the area for burning embers as he fought to clear flakes of ash from his mouth and eyes.

“I did this once in Boy’s Camp,” he said. “It’s easy to remember.”