Earthquake: The Road to Recovery : Anxiety Lingers for Victims of Ruptured Pipeline

Ever since the Northridge quake, Rachel Hayes has tried to convince her 3-year-old daughter Rosanna that it is safe to leave her aunt’s house in Lake Elsinore and return to her home on Wolfskill Street in Mission Hills.

But the subject only brings back terrifying memories for the child.

“She still cries on the phone when we talk to her,” Hayes said. “She says ‘Mommy, clean up the house, but move it away.’ ”

Like many residents on this quiet street, Rosanna’s quake anxieties were aggravated by memories of the nightmarish explosions and fires caused by a quake-ruptured oil pipeline under Wolfskill Street.

Now added to that anxiety are the less emotional concerns of some about the headaches of reaching damage settlements with the pipeline owners.

After igniting, the crude oil fueled two massive walls of flame that raced down the street and put some in mind of an earthly hell. The blaze injured one man, destroyed a house, damaged three other homes and burned 17 vehicles and dozens of trees.

“The earthquake, that’s no problem,” said Hayes, a discount store employee. “But that and the street being on fire. . . it was too much.”

For several of Hayes’ neighbors, the fears will persist as long as the 1920-era pipeline owned by the Atlantic Richfield Co. continues to operate beneath Wolfskill Street and near adjacent O’Melveny Elementary School.

“We are scared that another quake is going to come along and burn the house,” said Luz Becerra, who watched a car catch fire and explode in front of her home on the corner of Wolfskill Street and Rincon Avenue.

In the hope of preventing future disasters, officials from Los Angeles and the neighboring city of San Fernando are trying to get the pipeline moved out of the neighborhood and away from the school.

“Anybody who witnessed the fire that I witnessed a half hour after the quake would (question) why we have pipelines in residential areas,” said Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alarcon, whose district includes the Wolfskill Street neighborhood.

Angered by the rupture, Alarcon on Friday called for a moratorium on new city agreements to operate such underground pipelines in the city until an investigation into the Wolfskill Street rupture is completed.

Already, life on the street is slowly returning to normal. The ruptured pipeline was patched up, the scarred street has been partially paved over and the city has rebuilt the charred and oil-stained gutters and sidewalks. Arco officials said they plan to reopen the line by late March.

While many residents have settled their damage claims with Arco, others criticize the petroleum firm for trying to rush them into accepting an offer that they say may not adequately cover their damages.

For example, the roof of the single-story, stucco home that Alejandro Castillo and his family share on the corner of Wolfskill Street and Amboy Avenue was charred in the fire and is now covered with a plastic sheet to keep out the elements.

Castillo said contractors have estimated the damage at about $60,000, but he said Arco has only offered $13,000. Furthermore, he said his family has been asked to sign a waiver, freeing Arco of responsibility for future health problems caused by the rupture. He said he is reticent to do so because he and his six family members have suffered headaches in the week after the quake.

“They say they were going to compensate everyone for their damages,” he said. “But the catch is you have to sign a release.”

Martha Duran, who lives a few doors away from Castillo, said she has not yet settled with Arco either--for the smoke damage and oil stains in her house--because she did not want to waive her rights to claim future health problems.

She said she and her family, including her 74-year-old mother, suffered rashes and coughs in the week after the rupture.

“They just wanted us to sign off right there,” Duran said in an exasperated tone.

Arco spokesman Scott Loll denies that his firm has asked residents to give up their rights, saying the residents who settle property damages do not necessarily waive the right to file future health claims.

“We’ve asked our adjusters to work with the people in the community,” he said. “It’s our intention to look at each claim individually.”

Arco does have deadlines for offering the settlements, he said, but is willing to work with people who need more time to settle the claims.

Loll said Arco is willing to consider moving the pipeline, if city officials help the company acquire new rights-of-way. But Alarcon said he is reluctant to simply move the line to another residential area.

The break was one of eight ruptures on a 35-mile span of the pipeline, which carries crude oil from Kern County oil fields to Los Angeles refineries. Another rupture killed hundreds of fish and other wildlife in the Santa Clara River in Valencia.

State and local fire investigators attribute the breaks to the pipe’s age--it was installed in 1925--and to the use of welds made with acetylene torches, which are not as strong as modern arc welds.

Although the crude oil in the line was not being pumped through the pipeline at the time of the quake, witnesses say it only took a few minutes for oil to fill the gutters on two sides of the street.

Fire investigators remain unsure how the oil became ignited, but some neighbors say the fire started with a spark or backfire from the exhaust pipe of a car seen speeding through the oil.

“We were out on the street and we saw the oil come down the street,” said Sylvia Esperanza, Becerra’s sister. “Then we saw the car go by and the fire start.”

The scene that ensued was described by witnesses as resembling a vision of hell.

Flames that reached as high as the telephone wires raced down the street for three blocks. Cars and trucks parked along the street “popped like popcorn,” said one resident.

The most serious injuries were to Arturo Rodriguez, 21, who was burned over 25% of his body after he tried to ride his motorcycle through the oil. He was released Friday from Sherman Oaks Hospital and Health Center.

“It was really ugly,” said Anastasio Gallegos, a retired carpenter who fought the flames with a garden hose from the roof of his house. “I thought it was the end of the world.”

The heat from the blaze was so intense that it singed trees and plants in Gallegos’ garden and melted the bumpers and brake lights on two of his cars parked in his driveway.

While his damage was relatively minor, Gallegos said he is worried about whether the pipeline that runs a few feet in front of his house can fuel a new disaster in the future.

“The danger is not with the earthquakes; it’s down here,” he said, pointing toward Wolfskill Street.