O.C. Residents Assess Ruin Fire Wrought

The stunned victims of Monday’s wildfires returned to their neighborhood Tuesday and pulled from their houses the remnants of their lives.

Melted patio furniture. Singed clothing. Charred toys. A water heater. A warped bottle of shampoo.

Then there were the homes themselves: Blackened walls, roofless frames, twisted metal and pipes that led nowhere.

Gov. Pete Wilson declared the neighborhood a disaster area Tuesday.

“I walked in and cried,” said Lorraine Fairbairn, 44, a school principal whose Afton Lane home burned to the ground. “It was a lot worse than I anticipated.”

The fires destroyed more than $3.5 million in property as they razed 10 homes and damaged 23 other structures. Officials said the total would probably rise to at least $6 million after the value of home contents was calculated.

The monetary and emotional toll of the fires came together as residents picked through the remains, trying to imagine what stood only a day before.

“This was my room,” said Nick Fairbairn, 15, standing on a heap of blackened debris.

Fairbairn’s house looked as if it had been targeted in an air raid. The roof was gone. The walls, where they still stood, were charred and peeling, ready to fall. Ashes coated the carpet inside and the pool outside.

Gone too were most of the Fairbairns’ clothes, their family pictures and the small mementos of their lives.

Though the fires seemed to hopscotch across the neighborhood, fire officials said the blazes followed a logical course. Embers and sparks swirling through the air tended to ignite wood-shingled roofs.

“Those roofs in a wind-driven fire are designed for disaster,” Fire Capt. Scott Brown said. “They’re old, they’re dry and they catch those flames so easily and quickly.”

Fire officials said that homes with roofs made of fire-retardant materials, and with eaves that did not allow flames into attics, have a greater chance of surviving fires. They also said that some residents saved their homes by simply keeping them clear of branches and trees.

Many Lemon Heights residents praised firefighters’ efforts.

“They did everything they could,” said Daniella Kim, 25, surveying the collapsed roof of what used to be her living room on La Loma Drive. “Everyone is safe, and the firefighters have shown a lot of consideration.”

Jack Trujillo, who lives on nearby Red Hill Avenue, said the firefighters’ swift action saved his home. They told him to hose down his roof and keep an eye on the fire.

“They told me what to do and then made sure I did it,” Trujillo said.

“The firemen were everywhere,” he added. “They were totally in control and patient with everybody being all crazy-like.”

The firefighters gave themselves high marks as well.

The time it took to respond to the fires, they said, was five minutes. And despite stiff winds, dry air and narrow streets, the fire was under control within three hours, they said.

“We had everything against us yesterday,” Brown said. “It was overwhelming.”

Still, some Lemon Heights homeowners expressed frustration, saying the firefighters took too long to reach their houses or ignored them once they got there.

“It’s too late as far as I’m concerned for them to be coming around here, checking in,” said Penny Ferrulo, whose house on Skyline Drive was not damaged. “I couldn’t get a damn hose to my house yesterday, much less a fireman.”

Fire Capt. Mike Fejtek, who was among the first on the scene, said firefighters had to give priority to houses that were engulfed in flames.

He said he had heard such complaints before.

“When your house is burning, or everyone’s around you is, five minutes can seem like an eternity,” Fejtek said. “I know some people are upset. I would be too.”

Firefighters were not the only ones working in Lemon Heights on Tuesday.

Contractors fanned out across the damaged area, hawking their services and looking for work.

Frank Spalding, an Orange roofer, said he couldn’t think of a better way to advertise his business than by visiting a fire-scarred neighborhood where the destruction was still fresh.

“It may sound strange, but these people need me now,” said Spalding, who passed out about 50 business cards Tuesday. “I want to get them while they’re still thinking about what happened, still looking at the mess.”

By noon, Spalding had his first job: Replacing the wood-shake shingled roof on Anthony Scott’s house with a fireproof tile roof.

“I’ve been meaning to have it priced out and done for a few years now,” said Scott, whose Skyline Drive house wasn’t damaged in Monday’s fire. “But now I think I’ve had my first warning. It’s time.”

As much as anything, Tuesday was a day for Lemon Heights residents to try to reconnect with their everyday lives. For some, that proved difficult.

Daniella Kim, for instance, beamed with joy when she located her beloved dog, Pepsi, who took off when the fire began to destroy her family’s house.

“I’ve been so worried about you!” Kim told Pepsi.

But Kim’s cats, Oprah and Tucker, were still missing.

“They’re not coming back,” said D.S. Kim, Daniella’s father.

Capt. Fejtek, an old pro at this sort of thing, believed otherwise. He suggested sprinkling bits of cat food around the family home to entice them back.

“They’re just scared,” Fejtek said. “They’ll come home.”

Also contributing to this report was Times staff writer Dexter Filkins.