At least three homes were destroyed Wednesday after a fire at a Compton pallet yard spread to nearby structures.
The charred structures were in the area of Alameda Street and East Rosecrans Avenue, and were not houses, but rather storage facilities and detached garages that people lived in.
“It hurts to see the house like this and it hurts to not come back home,” Abby Navarro told KTLA.
Navarro and her family are among the victims of the massive five-alarm fire. The flames blew out the back windows of her home, filling it with smoke while she and her grandmother were inside.
“The fire started coming in. I was panicking,” Navarro said. “My grandma, she was in shock. She was just staying still. I was screaming, I was crying. I went running to the block then I went running back to get my grandma. I had so much anxiety, it was super bad.”
Their garage was burned down, along with three vehicles.
Neighbor Pamela Hall lost two storage sheds in her backyard, which she says were full of irreplaceable family photos, toys and personal items.
Victor Marrufo, 74, lived in a nearby detached garage. The retired construction worker lost all of his clothes, tools and furniture to the windblown flames.
“I lost everything,” he told KTLA.
Teresa Curry, who is a part of a mobile donation platform called OneRelief, doesn’t know any of the victims, but she’s trying to help where she says the city and the Red Cross have not.
“I called the Red Cross for four of these tenants, and they said, ‘No you only had smoke damage. You don’t have any damage, all you have is smoke in your house so you can stay there.'” she says. “Really? So who’s going to help them?”
Curry was helping Marrufo find shelter Thursday night, as his closest relative is out in Fontana. Some of the other victims say they do have insurance, but they realize cleaning up and rebuilding may be a long and tough process.
Power crews were in the neighborhood Thursday, and power was restored to all but one of the homes.
The cause of the fire has not yet been determined. No injuries were reported.