Displaced, They Hope to Return

The Crown Villa Apartments sat vacant Sunday--one wing a hollowed, blackened hull. Yet resident Kent Tran could hardly wait to return today.

Tran, 39, was one of about 150 people displaced by a fast-moving blaze that swept through a section of the Garden Grove apartment complex Friday, causing more than $2 million in damage. The blaze killed resident Nho Phan, 28, and her 2-year-old son, Rick Pham. Nine others, many of whom jumped to safety, were injured.

Tran and more than 30 of his neighbors who were uninjured spent Sunday in an emergency shelter the Red Cross had opened in the Bolsa Grande High School gym. Other residents were housed by a local mosque, friends or family.

Rather than dwell on the deaths of their neighbors or their bad fortune, the displaced residents in the gym passed the hours dreaming of returning home, cleaning up and starting over.

And they marveled at how tragedy had brought them closer together.

“Where do we go from here?” Tran asked from a cot nestled against fold-out bleachers in the gym. “Everyone thinks it’s best to go back to the apartments. Moving is not an option for us. We live from paycheck to paycheck. Besides, this has become a good opportunity for us. Most of us had lived here for five, 10 years and had never known each other. Now we’re so close.”

That closeness was evident in the gym, where neighbors chatted and protectively gathered around Loc Luu, 56, who lost her mildly retarded daughter and her mischievous grandson in the fire.

Midafternoon Sunday, the strain of the weekend’s events appeared to overwhelm Luu. She collapsed in the gym and was taken to the emergency room at Garden Grove Hospital and Medical Center. Hospital spokeswoman Donna Almand would not say whether exhaustion or something more serious had caused the collapse. Luu was in stable condition Sunday evening and expected to be hospitalized overnight for observation.

Earlier in the day, Tran said that Luu was distraught about her inability to pay for a cremation and memorial service for her daughter and grandson.

While adults fretted over Luu or called their relatives on cell phones, the children in the gym seemed almost oblivious to their predicament. The young ones clustered around card tables to color, while their older siblings studied for their final exams.

Phu Phan, his wife and two children ate lunch in the gym. They said they were eager to return to their Hazard Avenue apartment building. “We are all here together,” he said, looking around him. “This bad thing has pulled us together.”

But Phan, too, was focused on getting life back to normal.

The Red Cross arranged housing and furniture vouchers for the families who lost their dwellings and possessions, said spokesman John Duncan. Nurses and counselors provided physical and psychological care for the traumatized. Volunteers brought food, clothing and toiletries.

Three apartment units were completely gutted in the fire. As many as half of the apartment building’s 61 units may be uninhabitable, said resident manager Susan Slater, who is working to refund deposits and prorate rent to those left homeless.

Donations for cremation and memorial service costs for Loc Luu’s daughter and grandson may be sent to 8411 Satinwood Circle, Westminster, CA 92683. Or donations may be made to the Red Cross, P.O. Box 11364, Santa Ana, CA 92711-1364. Donations that specifically mention Loc Luu or her relatives will be directed to them; other donations will help with the Red Cross relief effort.

Staff writer Seema Mehta contributed to this report.