LAGUNA BEACH : Disaster Relief Center Reopened

A fire relief center that officially closed Friday reopened at the same location Monday after the state’s Office of Emergency Services decided the community still needed the help, a center spokeswoman said Monday.

The Community Disaster Recovery and Preparedness Center, which reportedly has served about 1,000 residents, was established after the October firestorm, initially to aid fire victims and later to help the city prepare for possible future disasters, including fire, floods or earthquakes.

Center workers, who had insisted their work was not done here, received word late Friday that they had been granted the stay, spokeswoman Diane Turner said. But since the paperwork already had been processed to close the center at the Boat Canyon shopping center, workers arrived Monday to find their furniture carted away and the phones disconnected, problems they expect to resolve this week.

In the meantime, the workers borrowed chairs and a telephone Monday from the community-based Laguna Fire Relief Coalition, which has an office next door. “It was quite a shock to find out the phones were disconnected,” Turner said. “But we’re working through it all, and we’re going to still be here.”

She said the center will remain in the current location for now but will probably move to another office eventually.

In the meantime, the four staff members are continuing to work on ongoing projects, including helping homeowners’ associations in disaster preparations and planning community activities to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 27 blaze, which damaged or destroyed more than 400 homes.

The relief office, at 664 N. Coast Highway, is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday.