Donated Toys Erasing Loss From Fire

Christmas toys began arriving at the Five Acres center Thursday to replace many of those lost when a predawn fire swept through a storage house at the home for abused and neglected children in Altadena.

“Even the firemen who put out the fire have brought some,” said an appreciative Robert Ketch, executive director of the center. “We’re going to make sure that every child will get a toy for Christmas.”

The sprawling center on West Mountain View Street is home to about 80 children with special needs who have been placed there by the county’s foster care system. The center also serves another 490 children living at private foster homes and group child care facilities.

Toys donated for Christmas, birthdays and other special events had been stored in an old, unoccupied home across the street from the main Five Acres complex, Ketch said.

“There were hundreds and hundreds of toys in there,” he said. “Stuffed animals, games, toy trucks--everything.”

Ketch said that about 5 a.m. Thursday, a pilot light in an old floor furnace apparently ignited some adjacent wooden framing that had been drying for decades. The blaze spread quickly through several rooms, destroying everything in them.

“But fortunately, the firemen were able to save half the house,” he said. “And fortunately, most of the toys that the children had put on their wish lists had been wrapped and distributed before the fire broke out.”

By Thursday afternoon, neighbors and others started showing up with replacement toys.

“It’s a huge loss, but we’re going to be OK,” Ketch said. “We’re experiencing some real generosity.”