Copyright 2005 The San Diego Union-Tribune
By AMY OAKES
San Diego Union-Tribune
Three days ago, it was lives that San Diego firefighters saved in City Heights. Yesterday, it was Christmas.
They brought a truckload of toys, games and stuffed animals to share with children from the Altadena Apartments, hoping to fulfill Christmas wishes lost in a blaze that left almost 50 people homeless.
The toy run was part of a community effort to help those burned out of their homes. The Red Cross provided immediate aid; a local church, Christ Church Unity, gave temporary shelter; and the landlord stepped in to put up his tenants at local hotels.
The Red Cross had been prepared to help with housing -- after already having supplied clothing, medication and money -- but Oscar Davila, the apartment owner, decided to do that himself.
“He made the arrangements and he took care of it,” Red Cross spokeswoman Gayle Falkenthal said yesterday. “It was an unusual gesture.”
Davila said it seemed like the right thing to do until he can move the displaced tenants into other apartments he owns.
“It’s Christmastime,” he said.
Damage from Wednesday’s fire at the Altadena complex was estimated at $250,000. The early afternoon blaze, possibly caused by a candle, started in one of the complex’s six buildings.
People jumped from balconies to escape and, in one desperate moment, a 3-year-old girl was tossed from a second-floor balcony into the arms of a man on the ground.
“I saw three balconies packed with people with smoke pouring out,” said Capt. Rick Ballard, who was among the first firefighters to arrive.
The fire was extinguished within 20 minutes. Four people were injured, but none seriously.
San Diego firefighters from stations 26 and 10 returned to the complex around noon yesterday with the toys.
The delivery was arranged after an apartment manager told fire department spokesman Maurice Luque that some of the 26 children whose homes were damaged might miss out on Christmas gifts.
Luque decided to tap into a surplus of gifts the fire department had collected for Toys for Tots.
“That was very nice of them,” said Yolanda Soto, whose unit escaped heavy damage. “Most of the gifts burned in those other apartments.”
Each firefighter took a child by the hand and approached the stack of toys.
Parents stood a few feet away and smiled.
As their mother and father watched, Erick, Eduardo and Noemi Marroquin made their selections.
Erick, 13, chose a portable CD player, while Eduardo, 11, picked a video game system. They left behind a Sony Play-Station and Nintendo Game Cube when they fled the family’s second-floor apartment.
Their little sister, Noemi, selected a Color’n Style Barbie.
“I like to decorate hair,” she said while showing off her gift.
Ballard said that to him, such visits are part of being a firefighter.
“The chance to have contact with people is truly what our jobs are about,” he said.