‘This is the home we have left’: Fire victims face deadline to leave RV park

Ted Ancona and his wife, Valerie Mathews, have driven their 24-foot recreational vehicle on summer trips to the eastern Sierra Nevada mountains and to Albuquerque,where Ancona was born. Now, after the couple lost their Altadena home in the Eaton fire, the RV is giving them a lifeline.

“This is our home,” said Ancona, 73, sitting at a wooden picnic table outside the RV at a San Dimas campground. “This is the home we have left.”

Ancona and Mathews, 71, escaped the fire with pictures they grabbed from the walls and their 14-year-old mixed tabby cat Callie. Ancona drove out in their truck and Mathews took the wheel of the RV.

Following a couple nights in the Rose Bowl parking lot, Ancona and Mathews found a spot in the Bonelli Bluffs RV Resort and Campground, located in a county park. They’ve been thankful to escape L.A.’s punishing housing market, where thousands of families forced out by the Eaton and Palisades fires have found price gouging, bidding wars and shortages of available homes.

But after almost three weeks at the campground, the couple is facing a Wednesday deadline to leave. The resort prohibits long-term stays.

“Panic has been creeping up as I’m trying to figure out where can we possibly go,” Mathews said.

Ancona and Mathews’ experience highlights the nest of restrictions that can prevent displaced families from finding places to reside while they await rebuilding or search for a permanent home elsewhere. The rationale of rules set before the fires, such as allowing more people to access recreational areas, holds less sway now.

Rob Sagginario, the general manager of the RV park’s private operator, said his hands were tied because the time limit is written into his lease with the county. He said the park has several wildfire victims staying there.

L.A. County leaders say they’re aware of the issue and plan to act before Ancona and Mathews’ exit date. On Tuesday, county supervisors are scheduled to vote on a measure to lift limits on stays in the two RV parks on county-owned land during the emergency, Bonelli Bluffs and one at Dockweiler State Beach. The latter has been closed this month for annual maintenance but will reopen in February.

“We are committed to meeting our residents where they are with care and support now and throughout our recovery from these devastating fires,” said Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, who represents Pacific Palisades and surrounding areas including Dockweiler. Horvath is co-author of the measure lifting the time restrictions at the two parks with Supervisor Kathryn Barger, who represents Altadena and San Dimas.

But the county’s action doesn’t extend to more numerous privately owned RV parks, some of which have similar restrictions on how long people can be there. Daniel Weisfield owns Off the Grid, a 108-lot RV park in Lake Hughes, and his county permit limits stays to no longer than three weeks. Weisfield said he’s asked county officials to waive the rule, but was rebuffed.

“I see no justification to not let people stay in our park,” Weisfield said. “We have spaces ready and available for people who lost their homes and the county is literally telling us no.”

Susan Tae, an assistant deputy director in the county Department of Regional Planning, said Off the Grid sits in a very high-risk fire zone and RV parks in those areas have rules limiting the length of stay.

“We are continuing to explore many ways to assist those impacted by the fires,” Tae said. “However, these must be in balance with ensuring long-term public health and safety for all county residents.”

Barger, whose district includes Lake Hughes, said she may consider authoring a separate proposal to lift time restrictions for private RV parks as well, given displaced residents’ housing needs.

“I want to explore all potential solutions and will harness the collective expertise of our Los Angeles County department leaders to determine what can be done to offer as many possibilities as possible,” Barger said.

Ancona and Mathews are hoping to get their reprieve. For now, San Dimas is the best place they can think to be. It’s close to their old home, near Mathews’ brother who lives in Brea and allows Mathews to make previously scheduled physical therapy appointments in Pasadena to mend a broken right arm.

The couple plans to rebuild in Altadena. The house has been in their family since 1957 when Mathews was 4 years old. Five weddings of friends and family were held on the front lawn. They left behind a collection of 10 cars, photo albums and heirlooms that had been in their families for generations.

While they wait for debris to be cleared, Ancona and Mathews plan to drive up to San Francisco to stay with their daughter who is expecting their fourth grandchild.

But they believe spending a few more weeks at the campground first will help them recover.

“I haven’t even canceled all my utilities yet,” Mathews said. “There’s only so much time. You get on the phone and you sit on hold for hours. By 5 o’clock in the evening, I can’t think anymore.”