Hotel Living Is No Vacation for Residents Left Homeless by Blast

All she wanted to do was get rid of the bugs.

But the Port Hueneme woman who set off six pesticide bombs in her apartment last week--neglecting to turn off the pilot light on her stove--caused an explosion that left 19 residents of her building homeless.

Since Friday’s bug-bomb blast--which turned their homes into a surreal scene of devastation--tenants evacuated from the building have wanted just one thing: a return to normal.

Stuck at the nearby Country Inn, where the American Red Cross and their landlord put them up, they have been unable to get their mail, cook their own meals and sleep in their own beds. Still, they go to work or school every day, staving off frustration by sticking to daily routines.

“It’s definitely not a vacation,” said Alice Harvey, a shipping-room worker at Procter & Gamble in Oxnard. She celebrated her 34th birthday over the weekend by finding her cat a temporary home--the hotel doesn’t allow pets.

Harvey copes by focusing on work and visiting friends at night. “If I didn’t keep my life normal,” she says, “I’d go a little nuts.”

Today, contractors hired by the building owner are to begin tests to determine which apartments are safe and what repairs are needed to others in the eight-unit, two-story apartment building on C Street. Building inspectors initially declared the complex structurally unsafe after the explosion in a first-floor apartment caused an estimated $85,000 in damage.

Investigators said vapors from six bug bombs detonated about 4:15 p.m. A woman trying to rid her apartment of cockroaches set up the canisters, but failed to heed warning labels that caution against leaving pilot lights on during fumigation, fire officials concluded.

The blast was so powerful it ripped an apartment wall from the foundation, badly damaged two adjacent apartments and blew out two front windows. Shattered glass and broken pieces of furniture shot through the neighborhood.

Few people were in the building when the bombs went off, and no one was injured. The woman who used the bug bombs was just pulling away in her car and narrowly avoided being hit by flying debris, officials said.

Port Hueneme Building Inspector Jim Smith said some families may be able to return to their apartments as soon as Friday. Aside from checking walls and ceilings, officials need to make sure gas pipes are not leaking and electrical wiring is safely in place.

But it is unclear when three families whose first-floor apartments were badly damaged by the blast will be allowed to return. Smith said their apartments are in need of major repairs and are uninhabitable.

The American Red Cross paid for the first four nights at the Country Inn, which has a weekday rate of $118. It had also provided food coupons and counseling to displaced renters. By Wednesday night, three families had found other shelter and left the hotel. The building’s owner, who picked up the hotel tab after the fourth night, has offered to put tenants in cheaper lodgings through the end of the month.

Ann Sobel, executive director of the Ventura County chapter of the American Red Cross, said that the families have handled the disruption well.

“It’s not uncommon to find people angry, in shock or disbelief,” Sobel said. “They did very well, because no one was hurt . . . and the landlord was very quick to be there. They got control of it pretty early on.”

Still, displaced tenants are tiring of hotel life.

Jesse Fuentes, a 65-year-old longshoreman, said he is sick of ordering room service and anxious to check out.

“This is not for me,” Fuentes said. “It would have been OK for one, two or three days. But that’s about it.”

A few doors down, Dolores Guillen watched her three young children play and waited for her husband, a construction worker, to return for the day. She said even though the walls in her apartment are damaged, she wants to go back.

Harvey says her friends have been supportive, taking her out for drinks one night this week.

“I said let’s go home,” Harvey said. “And home just happened to be here.”

Times staff writer Fred Alvarez contributed to this story.