1994 Quake Survivors Gather in Remembrance

Sandra Yates of Granada Hills arrived at Northridge Hospital Medical Center on Thursday afternoon with tales of searching for her newborn in the emergency room in the hours after the Northridge earthquake struck Jan. 17 five years ago.

Jerry Prezioso came to reflect on how city firefighter Mike Henry pulled him from the rubble of the collapsed Northridge Meadows Apartments.

Mimi Cowan showed up to share her memories of how difficult it was to do her job as an orthopedic nurse in a ward crammed with patients and without running water.

They all had come to the hospital’s Roscoe Boulevard building to commemorate the anniversary of the quake and to salute the medical staff, local officials and emergency rescue personnel for their efforts after the deadly temblor.

The event, “Our Heroes: Northridge Hospital Medical Center Remembers,” kicked off a weeklong remembrance of the quake that killed at least 57 people and caused $40 billion in damage, much of it near the epicenter in the San Fernando Valley. Other events will include a 20-mile bike ride Saturday that begins and ends at Cal State Northridge.

For Thursday’s noontime ceremony, the top level of a parking deck at the hospital was transformed into a roof garden where former Gov. Pete Wilson, Mayor Richard Riordan, County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky and City Councilwoman Laura Chick ate hors d’oeuvres with the hospital staff, community leaders and families under a white tent as smooth jazz softly played.