Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 18, 1994, Winnipeg, Manitoba Side Story Winnipeg free press q j january do fires Burn in devastated Oak Ridge trailer Park in Devil jolts City of Angels earthquakes fury rattles survivors by Wendy Mccann Canadian press los Angeles it was As if the City had and the Northridge Meadows apartments Complex bore the Brunt of the devastation unleashed by the you Felt like the Devil was Send ing everybody to said Scott a computer consultant who moved to California one year ago from it was the most evil thing Ive Ever Kormos was one of the Lucky ones at the 164unit he sur at least 14 people died More than 30 were injured As the situated near the epicentre of the Only a tiny portion of the first floor was visible above weve got a three Storey apart ment that now a weve got people were pulling out All the said fire Steve damage mounted while damage mounted across Southern losses were heaviest in the communities sur rounding about 32 kilo metres Northwest of los the yellow stucco Meadows apartments building was completely mostly sloped Down on one it was As if everything from the inside had been pushed through the cloth bedroom and hair dryers were scattered on the it was like a bomb going said Erik a 27yearold emergency medical technician who lived on the third Kormos third floor Corner apart ment split sending him and his belongings he ended up under his Pearson also escaped and helped Rescue at least six my hands Hurt real bad just from holding he we made los Angeles hit by major earthquake the quake was Felt at local time for about 30 seconds or and several aftershocks followed within it was centred in which is 32 pm East of downtown and measured on the Richter fireballs explode from ruptured Gas based upon preliminary reports As of e major structural damage the fou level intersection of interstates 5 and Highway 14nearsylrnar collapses Fairfax Avenue overpass of the Santa Monica i freeway Buckl Lynwood compto contacting la by phone Pacific Bell is blocking Calls into Southern California to keep the Telephone network open to people in the according to Pacific Bell spokeswoman Judy people calling into the area will get a message saying All circuits Are vehicle flipped when the Simi Valley freeway shocked women huddle Santa Monica human chains going up to the third we just grabbed people and held them As they came i had two people go into cardiac arrest right in front of but the worst thing i saw was the lady who had a beam pinned on her she was lying on a King sized bed and she was still alive when i got to but she was gone when i came Back with the building housed mostly Stu dents at a nearby California state University an identical building next to it but did not residents who escaped sat dazed on the two dozen fire trucks and More than 100 firefighters were on the firefighters used dogs in a bid to find More it moved North eight feet me tres or it just said Bob de chief of the los Angeles fire you make a House of you push it that what happens across the some Highway ramps were flattened like buildings were reduced to tangled heaps of others traffic lights were out through most of the at least Homes were without Power immediately following the shaken relatives left in the dark loved one phones shut Down As television relays devastation by Alexandra Paul staff reporter when the phone rang yesterday Sandra Paterson Greene jumped for with a son in los the Winnipeg Mother could Only Hope for his id tried phoning him and All i got was Mabell telling me the lines were Down because of the Paterson so she when he i burst into she across the province families worried about relatives in los Angeles and the san Fernando Valley hit by a powerful earthquake As television reports recounted stories of collapsed buildings and freeways and devastating in the cites emergency measures coordinator Mark Bennett cautioned that time is critical in los by their tend to be extraordinarily destructive and the first 72 hours is generally the worst time after an then there is a resumption of services after Bennett for news from her 19yearold son Marshall Paterson was a he was Okay even if his Home was the fridge in the House where he was staying was thrown five feet across the Kitchen the scariest part was that it was pitch but he could hear things she red Cross officials yesterday were preparing to take Calls from people worried about family and friends who cannot be reached because overloaded Telephone Dave free press Paterson Greene monitors news reports on the lines have been shut Well take inquiries but the american red Cross is not accepting inquiries for the first 72 Winnipeg spokeswoman Sandra Gerhart the delayed response is the result of a decision by California red Cross officials to concentrate initial efforts on meeting crucial needs such As evacuation in the quake id be totally frustrated if i had relatives there a sympathetic Gerhart its an unfortunate waiting period to get things in she the Winnipeg senior citizens radio club is taking Calls to track the welfare of relatives through a North american shortwave radio network set up yesterday by the United one woman who is almost certain to Call on shortwave is Mary her Friend of 40 years Ann Safian lives in the 818 Are code Exchange that was closed to in wondering about if she if Shes weathered the Mcdonald one a californian in Winnipeg said yesterday that news reports hit close to i moved Back to Winnipeg this july and i heard the Laci Enago exit on the Santa Monica freeway Charles Bernstein that was a three to five minute drive from my previous he its a very unreal feeling by Jane Stevenson Canadian press Vancouver producer John Ketchum was terrified when his Beverly Bungalow started rocking Early yesterday but hours he had regained his sense of its like someone stuffed too Many quarters in a vibrating said just five hours after a powerful earthquake hit the los Angeles area at local it goes on and on and for Ketchum and other los Ange Les it was a makeup Call like no some feared it was their its just the most bizarre thing youve Ever experienced in your whole said Molly a 29yearold furniture designer from Vancouver who lives in Santa Moni it just makes you feel like your life could end at any Ketchum was panic stricken As the powerful tremor took de scribing it like youre in a Little cardboard Box being its a very unreal feeling to have the Earth moving under your everything solid in life until the Earth lines Down in foreign affairs department spokesman Lily Camp Bel Ferreira said there were no re ported Canadian deaths and she advised people not to worry if they could not reach relatives and friends As phone lines were Sweeney and John Nichols huddled together under a doorframe when the big tremor rocked Sweeney beachfront apartment in Santa whose own residence is in Beverly said the experience made him feel like it Shook for about 30 the 32yearold lawyer we didst know if it was getting worse or weakening so we were just freaked the quake triggered car alarms on Sweeney Street and Power was out for about an her apart ment was left in with shelving units knocked cup Board doors and a Mirror off the Ketchum Bungalow was still without Power five hours after the tremor but said his House had escaped any major ;