Fires leaves poor families with ashes
By: TERI FIGUEROA - Staff Writer
People who had little struggle to make do with even less in aftermath | ∞
FALLBROOK -- They lived in a large aluminum shed. It was far too hot in the summer, and far too cold in the winter, but it was home.
They had a TV set, a refrigerator, even running water. No interior walls, really, but it was home.
Until the Rice fire swept through last month, the couple's shed in the middle of an avocado grove was home.
What little possessions Miguel and Sara Chavez had earned were lost to the flames.
They are not alone. Dozens of poor families in the avocado groves of Fallbrook, and in the far reaches of Pauma Valley, saw their homes melt into the earth -- part of the very land they till.
Some are part of a quiet population that makes its home under tenuous circumstances, laboring in the groves, building new homes, or scrubbing bathtubs and kitchen floors in North County.
And for many of them, there will be no insurance check in the mail, Konane Martinez, a researcher with the Cal State San Marcos-based National Latino Research Center, said last week.
Martinez says she knows of at least 25 families on the Rincon Reservation who lost everything in the fires but who do not qualify for federal assistance because they are in the country illegally.
"They are falling through the cracks big time," Martinez said. "And thousands more have been impacted by loss of work, and are not going to be able to make rent or make ends meet."
The center, which is part of the Farmworker Care Coalition, is organizing some of the relief efforts for fire victims.
According to numbers updated last week by county officials, the Rice fire, which burned through Fallbrook, took with it 240 homes -- many of them in the Valley Oaks mobile-home park near Pala Mesa.
The Poomacha fire, which raged in Pauma Valley, gutted 133 homes. And the Witch Creek fire destroyed 1,119 homes.
Martinez said the center has no idea yet how many poor families lost not just property but livelihood in the flames.
For the struggling, even those who are legal residents or citizens of the United States, the fire left behind nothing but heartbreak.
Among them is Miguel Chavez, who makes $64 a day running an 18-acre avocado grove in east Fallbrook.
The owner of the grove let him and his wife live in his large aluminum shed for free, and didn't charge them for water or electricity. So for five years, the Chavezes called home a 20-foot by 40-foot tin can that also housed farming equipment.
It is all ash now, gray bits covering the shed floor, a scatter broken only by the shell of a washing machine or by mattress coils.
'Nothing but no'
Mattress coils also poke up from the rubble that once was Kevin Peralta's bedroom in the Valley Oaks mobile-home park in eastern Fallbrook.
The 12-year-old pointed to the twisted metal. He stepped back. At his feet, it takes a second to figure it out, but there lays what was his bike. Wait, is that what it was? Yeah, yeah, he figured out after poking at it. That was his bike.
It's one of the items he misses the most.
As he talked, a sob rose behind him. He glanced over his shoulder and saw his mother's head buried in the chest of one of his older sisters.
Kevin whipped his head forward and pointed to more lost items. But his boyish smile melted, tears choked his words.
His mom, Irma Peralta, makes money for the family by cleaning homes.
Kevin Peralta's father feeds them by working in construction. If there is a Santa Claus, Kevin wants him to bring his dad a new pair of work boots.
The 12-year-old's first request, however, was for pencils, he sheepishly admitted. He wanted to be sure he had them for school.
It's stunning to see what a fire does to a trailer. Walls seem to disintegrate. Nothing remains of the Peralta home, save for the metal roof and the now-broken concrete braces on which the home sat. And, of course, the mattress coils and a charred bicycle frame.
The day before the flames, Kevin's father installed new tile in the bathroom.
The fire ripped through vegetation as it bore down on the mobile-home park. All Peralta had time to grab were a few family photos. Her son's video game system. Her daughter's computer. Blankets and pillows. Not much more.
Less than a week later, the family was surprised to learn that their trailer was not insured. And to also learn that they do not qualify for rental assistance. And the Federal Emergency Management Agency can't really help them, either.
Irma Peralta stood in the ashes Friday, as she has most days since the flames took her home a month ago. She cried. Again.
"My mom is just stuck. She has nothing," 23-year-old Lorena Castellanos said, stepping away from her teary mother. "At first there was hope. But now, she just keeps getting negatives."
The family has to come up with $4,000 to cover the cost of cleaning up the mess that was their home.
Peralta's two school-age kids sleep on mattresses on the floor of the place the family now rents in Fallbrook. They don't have winter clothes.
"She feels so drained," Castellanos said of her mother, who speaks only Spanish. "Everything she does now evolves around the fire."
At the shelter during the fires, the family was "promised a lot of help," Castellanos said. "At the end, there is nothing but a lot of 'no.' "
One car is enough
Not far away, just above Pala Mesa in Fallbrook, Peralta's friend and fellow house cleaner, Sarah Chavez, said the Red Cross supplied her and husband, Miguel, with $765. It is the only assistance they have gotten.
Of that money, $500 went to pay for the first month's rent on a room in Fallbrook.
She spent the balance on replacing work apparel and shoes for her husband. For herself, well, friends donated some of their old clothes.
Last week, a man contracting with FEMA came to their shed, and poked and prodded the piles of ash.
Armed with a camera, he took a number of photos of the shell of their home and of the burned-out pickup sitting in front of it. Miguel Chavez had fled the flames on foot that first Monday of the fires. The truck had a flat.
The man with FEMA told the couple that there's probably not much that can be done about the truck. After all, they have another car.
Later, after the man left, Miguel climbed into the car to run an errand. Whirrrrr. Click. Whirrrrr. Click. Whirrrrr. Click.
Almost.
Whirrrrr. Click. Whirrrrr.
And finally, an engine roar.
That car has little life left. Better last. It's all they've got.
-- Contact staff writer Teri Figueroa at (760) 631-6624 or tfigueroa@nctimes.com.
How to help
Make checks payable to "Community Housing Works." Please indicate in the subject line, "famworker fire relief" and mail to:
Community Housing Works
Attention: Patti Hamic-Christensen
1820 S. Escondido Blvd., Suite 101, Escondido, CA 92025.
Interfaith Community Services in Escondido
Main Office -- North County Inland, 550-B W. Washington Ave., Escondido, CA 92025.
Call (760) 489-6380 for more information.
More Stories
Advertisement
MJ wrote on Nov 21, 2007 9:42 PM:Any personal loss is tragic, but I am glad to see that FEMA is abiding by the law. The families in question DO have a choice, and that is to return to the country where they are legal residents --- it really is that simple.
You're right, MJ wrote on Nov 21, 2007 11:40 PM:Its sad for these people. Really sad. Maybe That Chavez's boss could pay him more than $8.00 an hour to run an 18 acre farm. Thats slave labor. So he let him live in an aluminum storage shed. Wow what a guy. He didn't charge him for eletricity, or water. Oh the humanity. Now what? Does he have another storage shed on his property to help the guy out? The simple answer is the poor guy should just go back to Mexico. It obviously didn't work out here in the U.S. Its too bad, but what else can he do?
Yes, wrote on Nov 22, 2007 3:56 AM:Too bad. Now go home.
Diane wrote on Nov 22, 2007 8:41 AM:Wasn't it obvious in this story that the dude works for $64 a day which indicates his employer hires illegals. And I do not feel sorry ONE BIT for those that lost everything in the fire and are here illegally - GO HOME! I carry insurance, I live here legally, I pay my dues to the IRS, county taxes and FEMA is right, ILLEGALS DO NOT QUALIFY FOR HELP!
Stick it to the ranchers wrote on Nov 22, 2007 9:06 AM:..who allow this to happen. If the job opportunity was not there, the family would not live in a shed... It's more common than you might think. Gee, maybe the rancher could pitch in with all that savings..
Carter: wrote on Nov 22, 2007 9:12 AM: I have read written here, in the article and first comment above, that the poor people have had a lot of bad luck. But actually their situation was a matter of their own doing. It was generated by their choices and perhaps lack of knowledge, for people that live in this era, in earthquake, wildfire, and mudslide country in California. "You makes your bet and takes your chances." I have fought for the right for every citizen of the United States to make their choices as they see fit, as long as they don't impose on the rights of others. I do not know about these people, but there are a lot that know that they should have the right insurance; that they should keep the brush cut back from where they live, and got caught short by the wildfires. I do not know what the answer is, but they could not afford to live as they were. They are not to old to start over.
leucadiadel wrote on Nov 22, 2007 9:17 AM:time to head south, no more freebies here is this country...
Carolina wrote on Nov 22, 2007 9:22 AM:OK, I feel sorry that they lost their belongs, but they are here ILLEGALLY, paying NO taxes yet they want us to bail them out. Give them a plane ticket home, where they have friends and family and their own government to help care for them.
Zeb wrote on Nov 22, 2007 9:25 AM:That $8.00 an hour is money that is tax free, which would have been about $9.50 - $10.00 an hour if he were having taxes taken out. No, he isn't getting paid slave labor wages. He is getting paid the same as other non-skilled uneducated worker gets here in California. No, wait. He is getting more than minimum wage AND no taxes are coming out. I don't feel sorry, they just need to go home, as in to their homeland. And that isn't here.
Mariella agrees wrote on Nov 22, 2007 10:21 AM:While this is tragic,if they aren't legal residents then they should not receive money to rebuild. That money needs to go to burned out "legal" residents. These people can always return to their home country!. So the slum lord let them live in a metal shed. Wow, along with employing illegals, he is not providing adequate housing for them. Arrest that man!!
What is this paper's agenda? wrote on Nov 22, 2007 10:23 AM:You guys are so "PRO ILLEGAL-PRO LAWBREAKERS"! Why? Your stories are so predictable!!
Protect Legal US residents,PLEASE!! wrote on Nov 22, 2007 10:35 AM:Instead of writing about the illegals, why don't you write a story that applies to your readers and US residents? What about the 20 plus people who are robbed at gunpoint in TJ and Ensenada everyday? This story needs to get out to protect our citizens
Fires leaves poor families with ashes wrote on Nov 22, 2007 10:43 AM:Title the story properly NCT. "Fire leaves "ILLEGALS" in ashes, not poor families in ashes" Come on now, why do you have this agenda? You are suppose to report news, yet you have this pro illegal agenda. This is why 4 of my neighbors and I have cancelled our subscription!! Good riddance!!
Rancho Angel wrote on Nov 22, 2007 10:45 AM:It's time to head back home to Mexico and take the North (Baja)County times with you.
Anther problem: wrote on Nov 22, 2007 11:17 AM:Illegal 'double dipping' is rampant. If they can't get 'legal' they rush their pregnant girlfriends/wives across the border at deliver time - viola, the baby born a few hours later is an AMERICAN CITIZEN! How about some statistics please? How many 'poor' children get free lunches at school? Okay, I do want them fed, not starving. But what about an American family, here for years, working 2 jobs and making JUST over the 'cut off for free lunch"? They pay taxes, but no free lunch for their kids No game boys and computers either (but note that the illegals in this story 'had' computers, two cars, video games, etc. Wow! No sympathy here.
Ken wrote on Nov 22, 2007 11:55 AM:ILLEGAL ALIENS should NOT receive any benefits whatsoever! It is time for all of the ILLEGAL ALIENS to realize that there free benefits are going to dry up and they need to start self-deporting themselves back to their own country. We Americans are raising up and going to STOP THE INVASION OF ILLEGAL ALIENS, ILLEGAL DRUGS, AND TERRORISTS! NO MORE FREE RIDE! Maybe if the 12 to 20 million plus ILLEGAL ALIENS would return to their own country, along with all of these groups that want to give away our country, and start fighting for your rights in your own country. Maybe now as a group, can make the changes that you want, in your own country. WE AMERICANS ARE MAD AND WE ARE NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE. THIS IS OUR COUNTRY!
Illegals. wrote on Nov 22, 2007 1:32 PM:Are such an old topic. Try Iraq if you dare.
Karl wrote on Nov 22, 2007 5:25 PM:Such an old topic? Get used to it. We will not go away until our laws are enforced period.
Syl wrote on Nov 22, 2007 5:41 PM:This is the fault of the employers. They should be paying for their ... worker's, insurance, schooling, medical services, and husing. What too expensive? Then hire legal citizens and residents.
Skip wrote on Nov 22, 2007 5:53 PM:How much of a deterent would it be to stop Illegal Immigration if we gave them federal assistence? They did not fall through the cracks as they have no right to be here in the first place. Thes Illegal Alien sob stories mean so little.
Robert wrote on Nov 22, 2007 5:56 PM:All of these terms are so confusing in NCT stories. What I call Illegal Aliens, they call undocumented immigrants, agricultural workers, illegal immigrants, illegals, or seasonal workers. An Illegal Alien is an Illegal Alien. These people just did not fall through the cracks.
LegalEagle wrote on Nov 22, 2007 8:07 PM:I don't live in this area but if I did I would be sending this article to the local ICE.What the farmer,the NC Times and those collecting things for the Illegals are doing is Illegal.They are Aiding & Abeting Illegal Aliens.That is against the United States Law,article 8 of our immigration laws. I am sympathetic to anyone who has fallen upon hard times but I am also very angry at the farmer who probably receives our tax dollars in the form of farm subsidies and uses it to hire people who have NO right to be in our country. I hope this farmer is caught,prosecuted and made to pay for the Illegals for their trip back to their country !!
ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE ! wrote on Nov 22, 2007 8:18 PM:Why in the world would you give gas cards to people who are probably Illegal Aliens and driving without insurance, registration, and license? This story points out that Mr. Chavez is an Illegal Alien, but he owned a truck and a car. Well I guess that is fine as long as he only drives on the farm and does not travel on any public roads. I am sorry NCT, you cannot have it both ways, these people are breaking so many laws in this country, and that means something to me. R/ Skip
Rodg wrote on Nov 22, 2007 9:08 PM:For the struggling, even those who are legal residents or citizens of the United States, the fire left behind nothing but heartbreak. Among them is Miguel Chavez, who makes $64 a day running an 18-acre avocado grove in east Fallbrook. According to this quote from the article Mr. Chavez is a legal resident. If proven so, then he deserves help. For all the other folks here ILLEGALLY, I agree with the many posts here, time to go South back home.
FIRES LEAVE POOR FAMILIES (ILLEGAL ALIENS) WITH ASHES wrote on Nov 22, 2007 9:14 PM:Why do all of the NCT titles require parenthesize? I read about a lot of poor Illegal Immigrant families here, but little or no mention of poor United States citizens. So much double-speak. Why is it so hard to use the words Illegal Aliens? We all know what you are writing about anyway. At least most people do, so why try to blur the issues?
fmrjarhead wrote on Nov 23, 2007 10:39 AM:I say too bad .. Let the orchard owners help their poor ilegal friends after all they are the ones that were using then..
reptile8 wrote on Nov 23, 2007 10:40 AM:I am so tired of hearing about poor illegal alien families who fall on hard times, whether due to natural disasters or whatever. The local papers and news stations constantly report all kinds of these stories, as if we are all heartless monsters for not donating more in charity or paying more in taxes to provide every illegal family with spacious housing, college scholarships for their kids, everything that hard working legal families break their backs to try to earn and can barely afford, all the while obeying the law, paying taxes and never using welfare, foodstamps or the ER for their medical care. Seems to me that these people can't be doing that bad if they can all afford to have 8 kids, cars with spinning rims, cable TV, computers and cell phones.
Randy wrote on Nov 24, 2007 6:34 AM:How about a story on me.. I am a carpenter and my wages have gone down 30% in the last 6 years due to all the Illegals. They need to go back to their Country and let them help them they are not our problem.
Elizabeth wrote on Nov 26, 2007 8:49 AM:Wow. What an impressive display of complete absence of human compassion. I hope you are all proud of how you chose to be born in the right country, to the right parents, with the right opportunities, so that you could thumb your noses at those who weren't. Thanks to that great foresight on your part, you never have to make hard choices like leaving your country to find a decent chance for success in life. Well done, all, you are great people indeed.
Bella wrote on Nov 29, 2007 12:16 PM:I feel horrible for all of the families who lost everything do to the fires whether they are legal or not . They are still people who work to provide for their kids just like we all do yet somehow as long as they aren't here legally they are less of a person & your only response to that is go back 2 Mexico. What if they were brought here illegaly by their parents & this is the only country they know where should they go? What of the children of illegal immigrants they are citizens do they not deserve some kind of asssistance from their country? I hope you never have to face a situtation where it's better to work a job no one wants for pay no one would take without being offended just because even then thats better than the life you had in your country.
Susan wrote on Nov 30, 2007 5:00 PM:Fellow Californians - why the hostility and ignorance against the illegals?????? FYI, they aren't using as many of your tax dollars as you assume AND many of them DO pay taxes!!! If they could be here legally (as in the braseros program in the 40's) they certainly would be. If you want them to go back to Mexico, stop supporting China's mass US/Sino trade - tell companies that you're looking for the "Made in Mexico" label. Also, do some research and find out the truth about how US practices contaminate water for Mexico's farmlands. Further, don't assume that the farmers can afford to pay more than they have....are you willing to pay more for their produce?? Maybe then, farmland won't be sacrified to housing development. As for all the prattle about not being law-abiding - well, I just got through driving up the I-15 - driving the speed limit, no less (stayed in the #3-#4 lane, let me add), and either only it was illegal immigrants from Mexico that I saw speeding; cutting people off and/or failing to use turn signals; impeding traffic flow by driving slowly in the fast lanes; flicking cigarette ashes out the window;etc. Furthermore, you all have plenty of WalMarts down there and plenty of customers (judging from the packed parking lots) and there is an embarrassing amount of trash alongside the highways and in the parking lots (and yes, I did pick up some of it and deposit it in the trash cans that I saw in front of every store even though the locals choose to walk by and ignore it). All that behavior is not only rude and inconsiderate, but ILLEGAL. So , Merry Christmas, HYPOCRITES - you're putting up the lights to celebrate the birth of the Baby, yet in your comments, you crucify the Man (for inasmuch as you do for the least of your brethren, you do for ME)......Think about it. Please! P.S. they aren't ALL here illegally, anyway
lint wrote on Dec 19, 2007 12:46 PM:you people are mean. i think they are not illegal or how could they buy a house so you should not be mean just cause there mexicans if they werent here they wuold be food
First name only. Comments including last names, contact addresses, e-mail addresses or phone numbers will be deleted. Attempts to misrepresent your identity or impersonate any person will not be approved. All comments are screened before they appear online, so please keep them brief. Comments reflect the views of those commenting and not necessarily those of the North County Times or its staff writers. Click here to view additional comment policies.
Today's Stories
Advertisement