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.