Eight tribal families moving home after firestorm

By: ADRIENNE A. AGUIRRE - Staff Writer | Tuesday, October 26, 2004 11:22 PM PDT ∞

SAN PASQUAL INDIAN RESERVATION ---- The anniversary of the Paradise fire was a bittersweet day for eight San Pasqual fire survivors who got keys to their new homes Tuesday, marking the tribes' first milestone in its recovery process.

"Last year you'd see frowns on people's faces," said Cheryl Calac, a tribal council member coordinating the rebuilding efforts. "Now, you're seeing the smiles in the people's faces a year later ... and the sparkle in their eyes."

Of all the San Diego and Riverside county reservations damaged by the October fires, the San Pasqual reservation was hit the hardest. The 269-member Valley Center tribe had 70 homes destroyed and nearly all 1,300 acres of its land scorched.

On Tuesday, eight families gained access to their new homes, which were built about three months ago through AMERIND, a Native American housing consortium that serves more than 450 American Indian tribes in the United States. According to program officials, there are less than five insurance companies in the nation that will underwrite loans on American Indian reservations because of the high-fire risk that is a fact of life in many rural areas.

On Tuesday, Kim Peralta started moving in.

"We got our furniture delivered today," she said. "And I just cried. We're really blessed."

At the end of the week, Peralta, 35, and her son Miguel Hernandez, 4, will move from a single-wide trailer to a 1,400-square-foot house with three bedrooms, two bathrooms and a den.

"Just feeling like we're at home, like we're not in a temporary situation, I can't wait," she said, with tears in her eyes. "I love our new house, but I wouldn't have traded the old one for it."

In the Paradise blaze, Peralta lost the home her father left her when he died in 1994; Miguel lost the only home he ever knew. Peralta said her son's new room is going to have firefighter decor and she's hoping Miguel will feel safe sleeping in it.

"He's been sleeping with me ever since that fire came in the night," she said. "It was a scary night ... It's been a hard year."

Another 11 homes are being rebuilt by Habitat for Humanity with a combined $2 million donation from Morongo and San Manuel bands of Mission Indians, two neighboring tribes. The nonprofit organization is helping families who were uninsured or underinsured and left homeless by the Paradise and Cedar fires.

The first eight of the Habitat homes are expected to be completed by Christmas, Calac said. One of the those homes is Calac's home. Her home was expected to be finished last month but the agency has to rely on volunteers to build the homes.

"We had a lot of help in the beginning but now it's faded away," she said. "There's more than enough work to be done ... There's still a need. Not just for us, but I'm sure there's a lot of people that still need help."

Calac said it felt like someone had died when the firestorm ripped through the reservation land, but now things are starting to look up.

"We're just looking forward to a brighter future," she said. "It's going to take a long time to heal, but we're on our way."

To volunteer to help rebuild homes on the San Pasqual reservation or in other parts of the county, call Habitat for Humanity at (619) 283-HOME.

Contact staff writer Adrienne A. Aguirre at (760) 740-3526 or aaguirre@nctimes.com.

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