Earthquake: The Long Road Back : Voices

“On Monday and Tuesday we were heroes and now we’re the bad guys. We’re just trying to make sure no one gets killed.”

Fillmore Fire Chief Pat Askren, taking criticism for keeping people out of damaged buildings.

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“It’s going up by the minute.”

Ventura County Supervisor Vicky Howard, as the county’s earthquake damage estimate surpassed $1 billion.

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“There’s good food, blankets and a roof. You can’t ask for anything else.”

Manuel Flores, spending the night at a Red Cross shelter in Fillmore.

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“If anything falls on us it will be a star. I don’t want to be inside.”

Jaime Serna, who preferred to sleep in a field outside the Fillmore shelter.

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“We don’t like to have business at the suffering of other people, but it’s good for the industry.”

Ray Prueter, executive director of the Ventura County Contractors Assn., on boom in construction.

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“When they call, they say, ‘Do you have electricity? Do you have water? OK, we’re coming.’ ”

Rod Houck, general manager of Ventura’s Pierpont Inn, where about 50 San Fernando Valley residents checked in Wednesday.

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“We’re back to normal calls for services. We’ve already had several domestics and batteries.”

Ventura County Sheriff’s Lt. Bill Montijo, on crime returning to pre-quake levels.

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“Once they’re gone, they’re gone. I want to make sure we look at all the alternatives, and I don’t want just a building inspector or other non-elected official to make the final decision.”

Fillmore Councilman Roger Campbell, voicing concern about losing historic buildings in the city’s downtown.

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“My head aches. I want it to end.”

Mercedes Luis Jazoc, whose Fillmore home was destroyed.

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“The city of Simi is hit so severely they haven’t even had time to assess their damage. Five thousand homes--my God, it’s frightening. They are still trying to get the critical services up and running again.”

Ventura County emergency services official Wendy Haddock, on the earthquake damage to Simi Valley houses.

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“Devastating. We came within inches of our lives, I believe.”

Simi Valley resident Gary Kaye, surveying the inch-wide cracks that run the height of his living room with cathedral ceiling.

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“It looks like they dropped a bomb on us. In all my years, and there are a lot of them, I’ve never seen anything like this.”

Val Smith, a 90-year-old resident of the Friendly Village mobile home park on Tierra Rejada Road.

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“I will do what I have to to avoid the crowded freeways.”

Thousand Oaks resident Rita C. Romano, who may have to start her commute to downtown Los Angeles at 5:30 a.m. to beat traffic congestion from the earthquake-damaged freeways.

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“It’s really incredible the kind of cooperation we’ve had here. A lot of these people are strangers to us and yet we’ve come together, sharing food and water, tents, everything.”

Simi Valley resident Cindy Goldberg, making coffee in her motor home, used as a makeshift meeting place for homeowners on her block.

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“We’ve called every number and we’ve gotten nowhere. We’re continuing to camp out in our yard, but at some point we need to know, is this safe or isn’t it?”

Tim Scalise, commenting on how authorities have not come out to inspect cracks that separate nearly every wall in his Simi Valley home.

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“I don’t want to take any chances with the safety of students and staff.”

Simi Valley schools Supt. Mary Beth Wolford, who decided not to reopen schools this week after a powerful aftershock caused new damage on Wednesday.

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“We moved here to start a new life after we lost everything in a fire in Chicago and now we have to start all over again.”

Simi Valley resident Sylvia Milian, whose belongings were destroyed in the Tapo Street house where she lives with 13 relatives.

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“We’ve kind of lost track now that we’ve gone from floods to fires to earthquakes.”

American Red Cross official Brian Bolton, on the magnitude of earthquake relief efforts compared to those of other recent disasters.

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“If someone is already under a lot of stress, and then this happens, it can feel like the end of the world.”

Robert Ortiz, a therapist with the county’s Health Care Agency who spent two days at a Red Cross shelter in Simi Valley.