One Week Later, Stockton Residents Want Answers On Pallet Fire

STOCKTON (CBS13) - One week ago, a four-alarm fire that started in a yard filled with wooden pallets in Stockton damaged and destroyed five homes and left families with nowhere to go.

On Thursday night, neighbors are sitting down with Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs.

Families have spent the last seven days asking city officials questions about the fire that destroyed their homes and the complaints about the company where that fire started.

A fence has gone up in the neighborhood surrounding one of the homes damaged in the pallet fire on Weber Avenue.

Families are preventing thieves from stealing their personal belongings. Five families lost almost everything including their vehicles on May 25 after the fast-moving fire spread from a pallet yard and onto their homes.

Neighbors complained to the city's code enforcement about Hugo's Pallets Incorporated but say nothing was done about it.

The city did issue the company a citation for debris left on the street and the pallets stacked up too high. The fire department also fined the company earlier this year and the city was scheduled to inspect the site a week before the fire.

Meanwhile, community members have stopped by to drop off donations for the families.

"I appreciate anything that is donated. I understand that, you know, we got so many clothes. We were so overwhelmed with so many clothes, I didn't even think that we would get this much love from the community, but I appreciate Stockton for even coming by with all of these donations," said Mickey Swan, whose home was destroyed in the fire.

A community fundraiser for these families has been finalized. It's a spaghetti dinner planned for this Saturday 6 to 8 pm at the Stockton Memorial Civic Auditorium.

"Living on the street, this is no different. You have a home, the fire comes in, destroys your place and your back on the street. If you don't have help which would be from the American Red Cross, they are in hotel rooms right now which is great, but happens when that funding and that available help runs out?" said Nicholas Burnett, co-founder, 209 Community Cares.