Heroes of the day
Barbara Diamond
My most vivid memory of the fire is the indomitable courage and
compassion that flowed like balm on lacerated souls and reeling
minds.
Everyone had tales of heroics and tenderness.
Tony Payan rushed to the nearby high school to volunteer his help
with moving out the students. Durham school bus employees drove trip
after trip to get the kids out of town. Students like Nate Pivaroff
and Beau Bianchi stayed around to help pack up cherished possessions
for families and friends long after police said it wasn’t safe to be
in town.
News photographer Don Leach ended up hosing roofs as well as
taking pictures, both professional and caring. The Surf and Sand and
Hotel Laguna took in refugees -- and their pets. Dana Point resort
offered a reduced rate to residents stranded outside the city. So did
the Ritz Carlton.
By 3 a.m. Thursday morning, In-N-Out had served more than 3,000
burgers at Main Beach. Around the clock, Orange Coast culinary
students cooked food donated by Hollywood Park and Dupree. Coors Beer
trucks delivered gallons of bottled water. Starbucks brewed an ocean
of coffee. One disheveled firefighter opted for an espresso.
Governor Pete Wilson, senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein,
Congressman Chris Cox and then-Supervisor Gaddi Vasquez all
helicoptered into town to show sympathy and assure assistance.
But it was people such as Trudy Grossman who captured our hearts.
She arrived at Main Beach at 6:30 a.m., volunteering her services to
the Red Cross, which later established a family services’ center at
Wells Fargo Bank on Ocean Avenue. The Spitaleri family set up water
buckets for thirsty animals. Susie McCalla provided courier service
to the police barricades for people desperate for prescription
medications
A truck pulled up in front of the Conkey family home, and they
began piling in their crystal, china and silver. It wasn’t until the
truck pulled away that James Conkey realized he had no idea who the
driver was.
Two days later, Andrew Jeeves drove back to the Conkey home to
return their possessions.
Kathleen Blackburn said that her heart still swells with pride
when she recalls how generously people who had not lost homes shared
with those who had.
Residents were no sooner back in town than they began toting
clothing, household goods, first aid supplies to the Laguna
Presbyterian Church. Donations filled the church, where a coalition
of folks were already planning a resource center. St. Catherines of
Siena Church announced that 100,000 pounds of food was on its way to
Laguna, collected by a Catholic Church in Fresno. St. Paul’s Lutheran
church also offered services and goods. At the first City Council
meeting after the fire Councilman Bob Gentry, whose home burned, was
still wearing donated clothing.
Five Feet restaurant supplied free food for people with Red Cross
vouchers. In practically no time, the Post Office offered free
mailboxes. The Animal Shelter offered temporary housing for displaced
family pets. Laguna Playhouse offered free tickets to a December
performance of “Oliver” to all firefighters. “Lagunatics” scheduled
performances to benefit Laguna Shanti and Ballet Pacifica, which lost
all of its scenery and costumes. Taco Bell funded counseling services
for children.
ABOVE AND BEYOND
I knew where to find City Manager Ken Frank even as the fire
loomed over City Hall and in the hectic aftermath. He was in his
office, contacting the Red Cross, the Federal Emergency Management
Agency, the governor’s office of emergency services, arranging with
phone companies to set up banks of telephones for the homeless.
It was three days after the fire before I knew that he had lost
his Mystic Hills home.
Police Chief Neil Purcell and Deputy Fire Chief Rich Dewberry
worked 24/7 and then some -- at one time nearly trapped by the fire
at Thurston Middle School, abandoned as a command center as the fire
raced up the hill.
Laguna Beach firefighter Ray Sendale’s Canyon Acres home burned
while he was fighting the fire in Emerald Bay. Home-grown firefighter
Carl Klass lost his garage, also in Canyon Acres, while he was on
duty elsewhere. Police Sgt. Danell Adams’ folks lost their home while
she was out helping evacuate the town. Adams is a captain now.
Now-retired police Sgt. Lance Ishmael grew up in Laguna Beach and
married into the large White family, but he put aside his personal
concerns when duty called.
“I had a job to do,” Ishmael said after the fire.
There was no time to think about his mother-in-law, his nieces, or
the safety of his brother-in-law, fellow police officer Jim White, or
his cousin, the deputy fire chief.
Ishmael did take a moment from a rescue operation to say goodbye
to his grandmother’s home, which he did not expect to survive the
fire. Then, he helped evacuate five people from a roof near the home,
which after all made it through.
Varsity football players hung with younger kids who were crying
and scared by the smoke and ashes and then later helped direct the
traffic jammed by frantic parents trying to find their children.
Ellen Gordon won the undying gratitude of Emerald Bay neighbors
for evacuating six children besides her own two from El Morro
Elementary School, picking up an older Thurston Middle School student
and rescuing family pets from threatened homes.
“All the children were crying, but as we got each family’s pets,
the tears stopped,” Gordon said.
Gordon notified as many parents as possible that she was taking
the kids to Main Beach and would stay there as long as possible.
Gordon fed them croissants from a bakery that was still open and then
asked if they would like some water. One of the kids said, “I’d
really like a cafe au lait.”
This is a story that never ends. The fire was the stuff of
legends, of great importance to the town’s history. I urge folks who
haven’t already to put them on paper or tape and donate them to the
Laguna Beach Historical Society to store for future generations.
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