April 1, 2005

Early morning fire leaves apartment dwellers homeless

Willow Glen neighbors step in to help

By Carol Rosen
Editor

A fire started just before dawn on the rainy, cold morning of March 23 at the 84-unit Glen Willow apartments on Willow near Bird Avenue. By the time the six-alarm blaze was out, more than 250 people were left homeless, most in pajamas, many without shoes.

Willow Glen Elementary School held its own collection for fire victims attending the school. Above, Lara Caldwell, who lives a block from the fire and has a child in kindergarten and one in second grade, made three trips from her SUV to the school carrying heavy loads. Among the items were blankets, clothing, uniforms, toys for kids and food. “The kids and I raided the house,” she said.

However, only three apartment dwellers were injured with smoke inhalation and burns. They were taken to Valley Medical Center where they are recuperating.

While a tragedy in the sense that fires can be, it also showed the heart of a community. By 6 a.m., less than an hour after fire fighters arrived, the neighborhood elist was alive and well. People were gathering blankets, socks and clothing for the displaced victims, local eateries were providing food and warm drinks and the nearby B’hai Temple had taken in the strangers, who were cold, tired and scared.

Firefighters were at the scene throughout the day. Once the fire was out, they mopped up the mess, which included water, debris and broken glass. In the following week, while no cause was found, investigators did discover asbestos, creating additional hazards for those who needed to go back and rescue items, such as clothing, in order to start life anew.

“I just got out in my pajamas, and I was told to stay at the shelter at Willow Glen Middle School,” said Rosa Lazano. She and her husband Jose and their four children lived in a one-bedroom apartment on the second floor of the apartment complex.

“Someone knocked on my door and yelled fire. I grabbed the babies and my other children and we left. The smoke was just coming toward my apartment. We moved out to the street and stayed there quite a while until we moved to the [B’Hai] Church,” she told the Times.

The family has since been living at the shelter set up by the Red Cross at Willow Glen Middle School. Lazano said that she was told to stay at the shelter in order to get her deposit and rent back.

When investigators found asbestos, Lazano said she was told she couldn’t get into the apartment until she signed a paper. The paper is a waiver eliminating the risk for the apartment owners and their insurance company. However, many of the people living in the apartments don’t speak or read much English. Like Lazano, they were afraid to sign the paper and so were unable to retrieve their clothing and other goods.

At the same time Jose Perez Jr. mentioned that his mother had been unable to work since the fire. Leticia Perez, whose waitress shift at Denny’s is 6 p.m. to 1 or 2 a.m. was told she must be in the shelter at certain times. If she is not there, they close the shelter and she won’t be allowed back in, Jose said. She was afraid she would lose her things.

“We are taking [the situation] it one day at a time,” added Jose. “We are looking for a new apartment. Most of our stuff was destroyed, so we don’t have anything.

WGE collection
The Red Cross and people from Willow Glen are coming to their rescue. Since the fire, people have been bringing clothing, bedding, toiletries and food to the fire’s victims. While a good deal of money and items have been left off at Fire Station #6 and at the middle school makeshift shelter, families at Willow Glen Elementary established their own drive for the 16 families whose children attend that school.

The campaign at the elementary school basically lasted about 36 hours. School got out Friday for spring break so parents did all they could in the short time they had between Wednesday and Friday. Families brought in about $2,400 in cash and lots of clothing, bedding and toiletries, said Mary Schorr, a parent who helped sort the goods. There were so many items to be sorted that at one point an entire hallway was full of the goods, she added.

The six-alarm fire broke out just after 5 a.m. and left 264 people homes. Capt. Gandenz Panholzer told the Times just after the fire was out that parts of the complex were unsafe because much of the framing had burned away.

At the same time, the Santa Clara Valley chapter of the American Red Cross was busy helping the fire victims find new homes. The middle school shelter is scheduled to remain open through Monday, April 4, said Cynthia Shaw, director of marketing and communications for the group. Its closure is not definite, she said, because “we have to wait to get all the clients settled into new homes.”

The Housing Authority and the Emergency Housing Consortium have been aiding the Red Cross in finding new apartments for the homeless people. Generally, said Shaw, the new homes remain in the area. Also assisting the Red Cross is the TriCounty Apartment Association and other local apartment owners who are offering the discounts to the fire victims.

By March 31, about half of the 264 families were getting ready to move into new homes, Shaw said, with the Red Cross cutting checks to help them move in. “We give the people referrals, they find the housing and we help them with the initial costs,” she said.

Shaw also expects the Service Center, which has been located at the Willows Senior Center, to close Friday, April 1, because most of the families have completed the casework. Depending on the families and what degree of damage they had sustained, the Red Cross provided them with a debit card so they could replace items. The Salvation Army also gave the victims $20 vouchers.

Shaw estimated that 80-some volunteers have helped at all levels since the fire. These include people to open the shelter, feeding, casework, logistics, mental health technicians and nurses trained by the Red Cross.
Finding the cause

Capt. Allison Cabrall noted that the investigation into the cause could take a long time. “We have many pieces of material and debris to sift through and hundreds of people to interview,” she told the Times.

She suggested a range of possible causes including candles, cooking or furniture that was placed on electrical chords causing a short that led to the fire. It’s just not a quick process, and no one wants to give an answer that might be wrong, she added.

During the investigation, firefighters found asbestos, which is not uncommon in buildings constructed between 1960-65 as the Glen Willow Apartments were. Once the damaged sheet rock and ceilings dried, the asbestos becomes dangerous because it can be inhaled. That, along with the fragileness of the buildings, led to short visits for the victims to retrieve their things.

If you would like to help, you can contact the Red Cross at (408) 577-1000 or visit the Web site at www.santaclaravalley.redcross.org.