TimesOC: Historic Wintersburg supporters rally, demand answers after fire
Good morning. It’s Wednesday, March 23. I’m Carol Cormaci, bringing you today’s TimesOC newsletter with the latest roundup of news and events.
A fire that erupted on a Friday morning in late February destroyed two buildings in the Historic Wintersburg section of Huntington Beach, which has ties to the city’s early Japanese American settlement. Although an investigation into the fire ruled out arson, according to a report issued last week, questions remained among people who are advocates for the slice of local history that’s now owned by Republic Services, a trash-hauling firm.
This week my colleague Matt Szabo reported on the concerns Historic Wintersburg supporters have over the origins of the fire and the demonstration about 150 of them held Saturday to call the public’s attention to the site’s plight. Some saw the fire as reminder of ongoing anti-Asian harassment.
“Chanting, ‘Don’t trash our history, we deserve the truth!,’ they demanded a full investigation into the fire, which resulted in the loss of the 1910 Mission (church) and manse (parsonage) buildings,” Szabo reports.
Republic Services bulldozed the two burned buildings in short order after the blaze, which started at around 9 a.m. Another church at the site was untouched by the fire. Some people believe Republic has fallen short of being a good steward for the property. The fire investigation report noted signs that at least one person had been living there at the time the fire broke out and that electricity might have been hooked up illegally by someone tapping into a nearby power source.
“The initial reaction to the loss of these buildings, the anger that you’re hearing from some, has a context,” Mary Adams Urashima, a stalwart advocate of Historic Wintersburg, told Szabo. “None of this is directed at the fire department. Their efforts were heroic ... The response has to do with the context of targeted social media harassment and anti-Asian hate online, using anti-Japanese and anti-Asian rhetoric and graphics, that began in early 2016 and continued for a multiyear period. There is also the ongoing history of the neglect of the property.”
There’s a possibility the city of Huntington Beach would consider purchasing the acreage from Republic, according to the interim city manager, but discussions between his office and the trash hauler have so far been only exploratory in nature.
It’s a complicated situation because, as Szabo reports, the Ocean View School District, which operates a preschool that neighbors the historic property, sued the city in 2013 after it rezoned the Historic Wintersburg land from medium-density residential to industrial. As part of the 2015 settlement of that case the district was given the first right of refusal to buy the property, but would have had to do so by last November.
Some are urging the district to acquire it through eminent domain. If that were to happen, where would that leave Historic Wintersburg? Is there a likelihood instead that Republic Services will become a better neighbor, as it promises? What would the city do if it purchased the land? So many questions.
MORE NEWS
— Aliso Viejo resident Cesar Quintana, 35, said he will travel into the war zone in Ukraine to find his 2-year-old son, Alexander, who was taken as a baby by Quintana’s estranged wife, Antonoia Aslanova, to her home country. The mother and son had been living in Mariupol, the port city bombarded by Russian artillery, according to a story by L.A. Times reporter Nathan Solis.
— The Orange County Sheriff’s Department last week released a new rendering of a possible homicide victim whose remains were found in Lake Forest in 1983. The department asked anyone who recognizes the woman to contact Investigator Bob Taft at (714) 647-7045 or email coldcase@ocsheriff.gov.
— The second annual California Water Safety summit, a two-day event, kicked off at the Newport Beach Marriott Hotel and Spa Monday morning with the announcement of the formation of the California Water Safety Coalition.
— Laguna Beach Police Department‘s Lt. Jim Cota is ready to hand in his badge. Cota, 53, a Huntington Beach resident, has served the community for 28 years. He told my colleague Andrew Turner that the recent loss of H.B. Police Officer Nicholas Vella in a highly publicized helicopter crash played a large part in his decision to retire. His last day will be April 4.
— About $15.5 million in federal funds will be allocated toward the restoration of Orange County’s beaches and coastline, following passage of a budget bill in Congress last week. The total cost of the Surfside-Sunset and Newport Beach Replenishment Project is estimated at around $23 million.
— A man shot in the face by police after a shooting rampage ended in a standoff in Costa Mesa on New Year’s Eve 2019 was sentenced Friday to 21 years in state prison and was ordered to pay an unspecified amount of restitution, prosecutors reported.
LIFE & LEISURE
— A 75-pound Belgian Malinois who was a valued member of the Huntington Beach Police Department K-9 unit passed away late last month. My colleague Lilly Nguyen interviewed Marco’s handler, police officer Wade Wilson, who first met his four-legged partner in 2013. “He would be a different dog while working or training, Wilson recalled. “Once we got home, he flipped the switch, and he was just a pet at home where he’d be like your dog rolling over on his back, wanting his belly rubbed.”
— The nonprofit known as Table for 10 earlier this month held its 16th annual culinary extravaganza set up on the grounds of the Festival of Arts in Laguna Beach. The $300,000 raised was earmarked for chef Pascal Olhats’ scholarship fund for students participating in the Pascal Culinary Arts Program.
— After a two-year break forced by the pandemic, the Huntington Beachcruisers car show returned Saturday. About 135 cars were featured this year, their manufacture dates ranging from the years 1921 to 1998.
SPORTS
— O.C. Superior Court judge David Hoffer ruled Monday that the city of Anaheim had not violated the state’s public transparency law in negotiating the Angel Stadium land sale. Hoffer gave each side 10 days to object before his ruling becomes final.
— Anaheim Ducks right wing Troy Terry on Monday scored his 30th goal of the season in play against the Nashville Predators. The Predators’ Filip Forsberg, however, had a spectacular night and scored his 35th goal so far this season, setting a Nashville record and helping his team beat the Ducks, 6-3.
STAY IN TOUCH
If you have a memory or story about Orange County, we would love to read it (please keep your submission to 100 words or less).
We want your help in making this the best newsletter it can be. Send your memory of life in O.C., news tips or comments to carol.cormaci@latimes.com or benjamin.brazil@latimes.com.
All the latest on Orange County from Orange County.
Get our free TimesOC newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Daily Pilot.