Some residents of a Carson mobile home park were allowed to inspect their homes Friday, a day after a fire at a nearby construction site spread through the neighborhood and prompted evacuations.
"I feel lucky, really lucky," said resident Virginia Cortez, who was escorted by a sheriff's deputy to her home, which was not damaged. "I'm going to get my medicines and some clothes... because I don't know when we're going to come inside again."
The fire damaged about 11 homes was ruled accidental. No injuries were reported.
Some residents spent the night in a shelter after the 139-unit park was evacuated.
"I had no jacket, nothing," said resident Amy German. "I came here with my ID, but no clothes."
Don Goodheart's home is a total loss. He spent Friday sorting through his belongings, salvaging what he could.
"Mostly clothes, that's the only thing we are salvaging," Goodheart said.
On Friday, Angeles Mercado was still in the pajamas he was wearing the day before, as he and his wife ran from the fire.
"This is the worst kind of thing," Mercado said. "I am 89 years old. This is the worst."
Crews have not determined the cause of the fire, which began at about 5 p.m. in the 21000 block of South Avalon Boulevard. The wood frame structure burned quickly, and winds carried embers to the mobile home park.
Some flames were 100 feet high, said Mark Savage of the Los Angeles County Fire Department.
"I looked out on my front porch and the fire was shooting up really, really high," a resident told NBC4. "I could feel the heat on my face."
Embers started a grass fire near Carson High School.
"You could feel the heat from the flames just bursting in," said a woman who was in a nearby hair salon during the fire. "You could actually feel it from the glass on the inside."
The fire was knocked down at about 7:30 p.m. One hundred firefighters using 40 pieces of equipment responded.
Damage was estimated at $3.1 million -- $2.5 million for the senior living center and $600,000 for the mobile home park. The Renaissance Apartment Development project was about nine months from completion.
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