Earthquake Aid Centers Close With Little Fanfare : Assistance: Relief agencies will handle inquiries mainly by phone now that the number of requests has dropped off.

They first came in by the thousands, seeking assistance from local, state and federal agencies with acronyms that few could decipher.

They wanted food, temporary housing, loans to rebuild, even someone to listen.

But now, 15 months after the Northridge earthquake throttled a sleeping Ventura County, the number of residents requesting aid has slowed to a trickle. With their job largely done, the agencies are packing their bags and leaving town.

The final six Federal Emergency Management Agency centers, including Simi Valley and Fillmore, bade Los Angeles and Ventura counties a quiet adieu Friday.

The county will still provide assistance from the Sespe Avenue building in Fillmore.

“Everything will be done by phone now,” said Angela Tabar, a spokeswoman for the state Office of Emergency Services. “There will be no more offices. The number of people still seeking help just didn’t warrant it.”

It wasn’t easy saying goodby, said Umo Ntekim, a crisis counselor at the Simi Valley FEMA center.

“It’s hard,” Ntekim said, her eyes scanning the nearly empty office in the K mart Plaza where 34,201 people had tromped across the green carpet seeking help from more than 50 relief workers. On Friday, fewer than half a dozen people had filed through the door by midday seeking help from the five remaining agency representatives.

“These people really depend on us. We’ve been preparing them for the closing, but I’m still left wondering how well they will cope when we leave,” Ntekim said. “But I guess it’s time to move on. All these people have been referred to different community services and support groups.”

Ottavio Palmeri and his fiancee, Danielle Sinopoli, were disappointed to see the Simi Valley office close.

The young couple must leave their Calabasas townhouse for three months so structural damage can be repaired.

They came to FEMA seeking help finding a short-term rental and paying the rent.

“Just because the disaster is done and over with doesn’t mean the rippling effect doesn’t still continue,” Sinopoli said. “I feel bad for the next group of 50 townhouse owners in our development that will have to vacate for repairs. FEMA has been really nice to us, but they’re leaving. What’s going to happen to our neighbors?”

They will be just fine, according to Beatrice Gonzales, the FEMA housing manager who spent the morning helping the young couple.

“Nobody will be forgotten or abandoned,” said Gonzales, whose big smile and empathetic eyes have earned her many kudos from the disaster victims she has helped. “We will continue to assist through referral numbers, and current cases will still be reviewed.”

An earthquake victim herself, Gonzales decided to work for FEMA after her first visit to a San Fernando Valley office.

FEMA set up temporary relief centers immediately after the Jan. 17, 1994, earthquake and moved into 10 offices across the region about a month later.

“I was really impressed,” Gonzales said. “I had no idea the government could set up so many agencies so fast to assist disaster victims. I was really touched by it and signed up.

“It’s been so rewarding,” she said, flipping through a photo album of her time with FEMA. One page contained a photo of Gonzales shaking President Clinton’s hand at a White House ceremony; another displayed a thank-you card from a woman who lost two apartments in the earthquake. It read: “Thank you very much and God bless you. Your moral support helped more than you’ll ever know.”

“It’s sad to go, but our work has really slowed down,” Gonzales said. “FEMA’s job is complete.”

Business at the Fillmore office, which handled nearly 9,000 applications for aid from an old bank building, had been so slow that two months ago FEMA reduced its hours to Fridays only.

“We had 100 people working here at the peak,” said Claudio De Vera, a Small Business Administration loan officer. “Now there are just three of us. Tomorrow none.”

Fillmore resident Gerrie Garner credited the Sespe Avenue center with helping her repair the $160,000 in damages to her hardware store.

“They really bent over backwards to help everyone I know,” Garner said. “They were wonderful. It seems like they ought to be a permanent fixture in town.”

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FYI

Ventura County residents can contact the Federal Emergency Management Agency by calling (800) 525-0321 or TDD (800) 660-8005. The Small Business Administration is still maintaining several offices for earthquake assistance. Call (818) 556-3670.