Deadline for Fire Victims to Apply to FEMA

Deadline for Fire Victims to Apply to FEMA

18 December 2008

published by www.sanfernandosun.com


USA — Victims of the Sayre fire have until January 20th to apply for assistance from FEMA said spokesperson Barbara Pritchard. “The Disaster Relief Center (DRC) is also closing at Sylmar Recreation Center on Friday January 19th, so that will be the last day to go to that location to talk with someone from FEMA from that location, a DRC will be set up at another location.”

Some people wait to see what their insurance will pay for before applying for FEMA, but it’s recommended that fire victims apply to the federal agency right away and also apply for an SBA loan. The SBAis offering low interest loans to fire victims and they point out that you can always turn down the loan if you decide you don’t want it, but it’s best to have all options available to you. Meanwhile, the management at Oakridge Mobile Home Park said it’s their goal to move forward.

Manager and resident Ginny Harmon has been working around the clock since the night of the fire. “This is my family,” she said, “This has been a wonderful close knit community and we are all anxious to move forward. I am telling people to check in once a week,.” The park is in the clean-up and demolition phase but over recent days the demolition was put on hold by theAQMD. “We are in a state of limbo right now, we’re waiting.” Park management has appealed to legislators to get things moving. The state of California has notified Oakridge owners that before anyone is allowed to resume occupancy including those homes that were undamaged, all home sites must e cleaned up. Oakridge residents who lost their homes are also warned to be cautious before making a commitment to purchase another manufactured home. A number of items have to be considered from city and state agencies and Oakridge won’t accept any new homes that don’t meet the most current state of California Wildland-Urband Interface fire-resistive construction requirements. In information distributed by the park owners, residents were advised, “Surprises at the end can be very disappointing and expensive. Far too often residents are sold a home for what seems to be an incredibly low price, only to find out later when its too late, that the price of the home and or accessories didn’t include many things that they expected.” Some Oakridge residents have also been approached by unscrupulous dealers who’ve attempted to unload some of their non-conforming existing inventory on Oakridge residents. “We’ve seen outsiders posing as park owners and management personnel and dishonest vendors attemtpint to get victims to sign bogus contracts.”


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