Santa Clarita Destroys Quake-Damaged Home : Aftermath: The owners asked the city to tear down their house. Damage to nearby properties was feared.

At a time when many Southern California residents are struggling to piece together the earthquake-shattered remains of their homes, Stuart and Patty Cronan have been waging a battle to have theirs torn down. On Wednesday, they finally prevailed.

After pleading with the Santa Clarita City Council and gaining attention from Channel 7 news reports, the couple Wednesday persuaded reluctant city officials to order the removal of their precariously leaning hillside home--the city’s first such demolition stemming from the earthquake.

“Hopefully we’ve blazed a trail for other people to follow in disaster situations,” said Stuart Cronan, a 44-year-old Woodland Hills communications consultant. The couple wanted the house demolished by the city as a public hazard, fearing that it might collapse and damage nearby properties.

Last week, city officials told the couple that the city would cooperate. But then earlier this week, city officials balked, apparently concerned that the action might set a precedent committing the city to tackle many other damaged properties.

However, after the television publicity, the city relented.

It took two Los Angeles County Fire Department bulldozers about 2 1/2 hours Wednesday afternoon to reduce the Cronan’s house on Via Onda in Valencia to a large pile of rubble that was to be hauled away to a landfill. The family bought the four-bedroom, one-story house in mid-1991 for about $290,000.

A crowd of about 50 people-- neighbors, city and fire officials, photographers and others--gathered on the street to watch the destruction with the couple and four of their five sons. Stuart Cronan said he and his wife had little equity and expect to get little or nothing from insurance.

“This is one of the toughest things we’ve done,” said Don Pierpont, the county fire captain who supervised the demolition and who has been on earthquake duty in Santa Clarita since the 6.6-magnitude quake hit Jan. 17. “It’s like performing an autopsy with the family watching.”

“When they first hit it, it was really emotional. But now it’s just mechanical,” said Patty Cronan, 45.

Because the house had already been declared unsafe by the city and believing it was a hazard that could not be saved, the couple maintained that the city should handle the demolition.

Assistant City Manager Ken Pulskamp said property owners normally must demolish their own unsafe buildings and he maintained that the city is sticking to that policy. But, calling the Cronans’ damage “in a category by itself,” Pulskamp said, “this is unusual solutions for unusual circumstances.”

Under the agreement between the couple and the city, the city handled the demolition but the couple agreed to indemnify the city and pay for the debris hauling and landfill costs. Stuart Cronan said he expects the city to bill him, but said he does not know the likely amount.

The earthquake had left the couple with a several-inch-wide fissure running the width of their house’s foundation and extensive other damage. The couple credited Channel 7’s reports with helping them win over the city. They said they first contacted sportscaster Todd Donoho because he lives nearby.

Houses all along the couple’s cul-de-sac appeared to have suffered much earthquake damage and several others also were declared unsafe. The Cronans said their house and others were built partly on native earth and partly on fill dirt, saying the earthquake caused wide street fissures along those borderlines.

Last night, the couple and their sons planned to stay in a neighbor’s house and in a camper where they had stayed ever since the quake.

Doubtful of trying to rebuild on their current lot, the couple said they aren’t sure what they will do now. Stuart Cronan said of the earthquake, “It’s amazing this all happened in 44 seconds.”