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Fire destroys farmworker families' homes
Cause of blaze at
By Donna Jones
No one was injured in the blaze, which drew firefighters from
Investigators haven't determined the cause of the fire, but there were
no indications of arson, according to Cal Fire Battalion Chief Greg
Estrada.
The fire started in a three-bedroom unit rented by a family of five. The
family had left earlier in the day for
Parents from the other family rushed home from the fields after their
14-year-old daughter called to tell them of the blaze.
Patsy Hernandez of the Santa Cruz County Chapter of the American Red
Cross said the traveling family planned to drop two children off at
relatives' homes in
Hernandez said she could only imagine how the family had saved to make
the trip.
"It's a tragedy," Hernandez said. "These are very low-income people and
they've lost everything."
Mayra Gordillo, 14, said she was the only one at home in the
three-bedroom apartment she shared with her parents and three brothers
when the fire broke out.
She said the electricity wasn't working in part of the house Wednesday,
and she had just stepped outside to talk to a maintenance worker who had
showed up to check out the problem when they noticed the fire.
"The other part of the duplex was getting smoky," she said.
By the time firefighters arrived, the Arizona-bound family's unit was
fully engulfed, Estrada said.
Smoke from the fire, near
Estrada said thanks to a training under way at the Watsonville Fire
station on
But by then, the fire had spread through the common wall to the
Gordillos' unit.
Dozens of children and adults watched as firefighters fought the blaze.
At a nearby child care center, 82 infants, toddlers and preschoolers
were evacuated briefly as a precaution, said site supervisor Maria
Flores.
"But everything was OK,"
The unit where the fire started was gutted. In the Gordillo unit, a hole
had been hacked in the ceiling and water and debris covered the floor.
The walls were blackened and groceries on the kitchen table and counters
soaked. An ash-flecked dresser had been pulled into the yard. Little if
anything appeared salvageable.
Mayra comforted her mother, Rosa, whose lip quivered as she acknowledged
the family's possessions were gone.
The family had lived in the home seasonally for five years.
The complex, available to migrant farmworkers, is owned by the state and
operated by the Housing Authority of Santa Cruz County.
Ken Cole, executive director of the Housing Authority, couldn't
immediately confirm whether there were electrical problems at the units,
but he said that was part of the agency's own investigation.
"We're looking forward to finding out from the fire department about how
the fire started," Cole said.
"Right now we're busy securing the site and making sure the needs of the
family immediately displaced are taken care of."
Hernandez said the Red Cross put the Gordillos up in an area hotel, and
is providing assistance with clothing, food and medicine.
"They have the clothes on their backs when they went to work," she said.
"The young girl had on her pajamas."
Hernandez said the other family also will receive assistance on its
return from
Cole said he'd be contacting the state to see about reconstruction and
is looking into leasing trailers to house the two families in the short
term.
The migrant center dates from the late 1960s, and the 50 prefabricated
duplexes constructed of plywood and Styrofoam were only intended to last
five years. They were renovated in the late 1980s.
The housing, which is open from the beginning of May to the end of
November, serves 100 families.
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