The 21 victims of the fire at the live/work warehouse at 1451 Stevenson have no indication of when or if they will be able to return, according to a next-door neighbor.
“They are in limbo,” said Larisa Pedroncelli, a neighbor who has been helping coordinate the visits of inspectors and insurance adjusters. “They are just kind of crashing on friends’ sofas.”
One family in the building has been taken in by Pedroncelli’s upstairs neighbors.
While they await news on the building, friends have set up several fundraising efforts including the Stevenson Fire Relief Fund where individuals and corporations can make tax-deductible gifts.
The relief funds will be split among all the victims. That fund took some time to set up, Pedroncelli said and in the meantime friends of some of the individual victims set up donation spots.
The Gibbs family relief fund tells the harrowing story of the family escaping with their dogs and infant son down a ladder. Pauli Gray managed to get out because his pet cockatiel warned him of the fire.
Jason Lehrman lost his home one day before his birthday. Lastly, there is the fund for Meme Bayardo, Amy Johnson and Thierry Chauvin. Bayardo and Johnson are expecting parents. Thierry Chauvin is their roommate.
Thanks for the links and update.
Figure two to three years to rehab any fire-damaged building, due to the amount of time it takes insurers to make claims and the city to grant permits. Many tenants cannot wait that long.
The large apartment building at Fillmore and Haight that was damaged by a fire several years ago has only just been rehabbed, and I notice “for rent” signs in the windows there, indicating that the former tenants have not moved back there, even though theoretically they have that right.
Amazing that some people would rather help neighbors in the face of catastrophe rather than make bank on airbnb …
You have to make money in order to donate to good causes.