Several people living near a three-story, multi-unit building under construction in the 1700 block of Hornblend Street, destroyed by an early-morning fire in Pacific Beach on Christmas, were displaced and are picking up the pieces of their lives in the aftermath.
Numerous GoFundMe pages have been started by friends, co-workers, and relations to help them out.
Kaikoa Pezario, 23, who lived with three roommates in a four-unit townhome separated from the construction site by an 8-foot walkway, said they lost everything.
“My room was upstairs – everything is gone,” said Pezario, who was away visiting family in Fresno. “The place is completely unlivable. There is ash everywhere. It is like a war zone. It just smells. Everything is burnt. The only thing that was left was a small fireproof safe that had my birth certificate, Social Security, and other important documents.”
Greta Mezzetti, 17, who lives across Hornblend Street with her dad, lost her car in the blaze.
“I was parked in front of the site where the fire occurred in the wood structure of apartments under construction, and my sister woke me up at 1:30 a.m. to tell me it was full of flames,” said Mezzetti. “We ran outside and saw that my car was already smoking. By the time we got outside… it wasn’t worth saving the car.”
“I heard many sirens after midnight on Christmas morning,” said Seth Pite, a PB commercial Realtor. “I knew that only four engines get called to a fire, but after hearing/counting more than four sirens come by, I knew there was something big happening. The smoke could be seen several blocks out and the structure was on fire. Station 15 (Sports Arena) was the second station on the call and by the time they arrived, the fire was really going. From the time engine 21 (PB) arrived to the time they got water on the fire, I was told the size of the flames had doubled.”
Added Pite: “The temperatures on Hornblend Street were extremely hot. The fire made its way into the neighboring property where it began spreading quickly and the fire department was working diligently to prevent it from spreading further throughout the structure. There were many trucks and captains/chiefs from all over.”
Lance Greer, who had been wrapping Christmas presents, drove down to the scene after being alerted to the Hornblend fire. “I kept hearing helicopters and sirens, so I knew something was really going on,” he said, adding he “headed toward the smoke. It was a big fire – huge. It was pretty active. I’ve seen fires before, but I’ve never seen one like this. It was kind of a raging inferno.”
Greer described the fire scene as being bizarre. “People were out there in their pajamas and bathrobes,” he said, adding there was another thing unusual about this blaze. “I’ve seen lots of fire engines, but I’ve never seen fire engines from all over like this before. There were engines with numbers from places I’d never seen before.”
About 115 firefighters and medic crews were called to the scene of the fire at 1:04 a.m. on Dec. 25. A second alarm was requested at 1:17 a.m. and a third alarm went out at 1:31 a.m.
The blaze jumped to a couple of palm trees at Lamont Street and Grand Avenue. According to San Diego Fire Department, the main body of the fire was knocked down by 2:06 a.m. Crews worked on two single-family homes nearby that were damaged by flames.
Two firefighters battling the blaze were briefly hospitalized afterward with minor burns. Both were treated at UCSD Medical Center in Hillcrest and released.
SDG&E was asked to shut down a power line involved in the fire. Several cars were damaged and power lines were downed in the blaze. There were no fatalities.
“The San Diego Fire Department Arson Strike team is investigating the fire,” said SDFD spokesperson Monica Munoz on Jan. 3. “There is no update (on the cause).”
Mezzetti said the loss of her car was especially unfortunate given that, “I never park there.” She thought at first her car might be spared because “water was spraying all over.” But she added, “There definitely wasn’t anything I could do about it. It was a freak of nature, an accident obviously. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was white and got toasted like a marshmallow. Now it’s golden brown.”
Mezzetti said she has car insurance but fears that “because it wasn’t an accident, I don’t know if it will be covered. My dad is dealing with the claim right now.”
Greta’s Go Fund Me page is at https://gofund.me/d45af853.
Pezario pointed out that, because the building under construction was three stories, [the fire] “just went up and over everything, caught fire to all the townhomes next door, just starting at the top and burning down. Firefighters did a great job of stopping it.
“It could have been a lot worse,” said Pezario. “We’re all grateful that everyone is OK and that no one was seriously harmed, and for all the support that everyone has shown us.”
Pezario felt there was a lesson to be taken away from the tragedy.
“Though it was a tough time, with the generosity of everyone, it showed us the true meaning of the holiday season,” he said. “It shows how quickly things can change overnight. And what is really important is our experiences and relationships with people. It just puts a lot of things in perspective. Things are just things, and can easily be replaced.”
Other GoFundMe links for Hornblend fire victims are at https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-for-hornblend-house-fire-losses, https://www.gofundme.com/f/hornblend-st-fire-recovery-donation, https://www.gofundme.com/f/koa-pezario-christmas-morning-fire, and https://www.gofundme.com/f/family-home-burnt-down-on-christmas-in-pb-fire.
