Everything is gone

Brandon Hart’s parents don’t know where the family will be living when their son celebrates his first birthday on June 25.

They don’t even know where they’ll be living tonight.

John Hart and Ashly Spector escaped a burning trailer with only their infant son in their arms before the single-wide burned to the ground early Sunday morning inside a West Newport trailer park.

The couple lost their 3-year-old cat, Charlie, in the fire. Firefighters found the cat’s heart-shaped collar tag in the rubble. They lost everything ? cellphones, wallets, paperwork, clothing, memories.

On Wednesday, sitting inside a Costa Mesa hotel room paid for by the American Red Cross, Hart and Spector recounted the details of the early morning fire that has left them homeless.

Hart, 29, woke up to the sounds of a neighbor banging on their door around 5 a.m. Sunday. Inside the trailer’s only bedroom, it was hard to breathe and smoke was pouring in the door, Hart said. Realizing that the trailer was on fire, Hart shoved his girlfriend and son into the arms of a neighbor, who pulled them out of the blaze. Seconds later, Hart followed.

When he looked behind him, the flames were rolling out the trailer.

“It was the most insane crackling noise I ever heard ? it was like Satan himself,” Hart said.

The family stood outside and watched their home burn.

“We just watched the whole thing burning down, crying, with the baby in my arms,” Spector, 21, said.

Firefighters told them that a few more seconds and they wouldn’t have made it out.

Fire investigators determined that the blaze was caused by an overloaded electrical outlet, said Newport Beach Fire Marshal Steve Bunting.

For this young couple, the fire means starting over ? again.

They had looked a long time before they could find someone to rent them an apartment. They don’t have any credit built up and thought it was a lucky break when they moved into the trailer at the Beach and Bay park in West Newport three months ago.

They spent a lot of time and money remodeling the old trailer; Spector said she painted every inch of every room.

“We’ve been working on it, had it all fixed up absolutely adorable,” Spector said.

Up until now, the Red Cross has paid for their hotel room, but now they need to find a place. They’ve been driving around looking and haven’t had any luck.

“They’re really stressed out about just finding an apartment,” Hart’s mother, Peggie Rodriguez, said.

The bed inside the Costa Mesa Ramada Inn was scattered with clothing, toiletries, and other items donated to them by family and friends. Spector works as a waitress and Hart stays home with Brandon. They need money to get their lives back together.

Crawling around the hotel room in his plaid shirt, jeans and tiny brown sandals, Brandon couldn’t understand what had happened to his family’s home. The morning of the fire, he was laughing and smiling, Spector said.

Brandon’s attitude seems to have infected his parents. Spector said the fire might be an opportunity for the family to take things in a new direction. A child actress, Spector said she wants to get back into the business.

“This is the point where we need to do something,” Spector said.