TRAILER HOMES FACE UNCERTAIN FUTURE : AGING BURBANK PARK MUST MAKE SAFETY UPGRADES OR RISK CLOSURE.

Byline: Lee Condon Daily News Staff Writer

A mess of ash and debris remains on the platform where Sam Jones' trailer used to be.

For residents here at the Hollywood Way Trailer Court in Burbank, it's a constant reminder of ``the fire,'' which two months ago burned Jones' home and threatened the other trailers.

``This is a wake-up call,'' said resident Donna Fioritio, who fears that people will be killed if there's another fire. ``There's a lot of really good people in here. Just because people are poor it doesn't mean they don't matter. There are 65 kids in this place.''

Welcome to the last trailer park in Burbank, which after 50 years of an obscure existence is facing a day of reckoning.

Tucked away in a commercial strip just south of Burbank Airport, its aging mobile homes and dirt roads make it look like the trailer park that time forgot.

``This is a fish out of water,'' said Burbank City Manager Bud Ovrom of the park's odd location among a wide array of Hollywood Way businesses. ``It's a time warp kind of thing.''

After coming to fight that blaze, fire officials identified an array of safety issues and have teamed up with the Building Department to get electrical systems, gas lines and other major problems fixed.

``It's poorly maintained. There's construction that has been added onto the trailers that hasn't been permitted,'' said Tom Zaro, the city building inspector assigned to the case. ``They've done things that are illegal and unsafe with the utilities.''

City building official John Cheng said a letter is being sent to the park's owners detailing changes that need to be made and requesting that the city be granted access for more detailed inspections.

The park's managers say they want to make the changes to make the park safe, but add that the expense could drive the park out of business.

``Where would these people go?'' said George Kahabka, a spokesman for the Flickenger Co., which runs the park. ``This happens to be the only place left for them in Burbank.''

Resident Robert Robinson, who has lived there for four years, said a recurring theme in his life is that he's been ``merged out, kicked out, phased out, you name it.''

He suspects that's what will eventually happen again here.

``It's either one of two things, get rid of it or raise the standards,'' Robinson said. ``Either upgrade the place or prepare to phase it out. I'd hate to see it phased out.''

There are 80 spaces, but only 48 are occupied. For most of the park's history, the residents were elderly couples or single adults. Today it's filled with a large number of families, many of them Mexican immigrants drawn there so they can send their children to Burbank schools.

The deal is that they buy the trailer, and then pay a monthly rent, about $400, to lease the lot.

While some of the trailers are unkempt, others are well maintained, with residents taking the time to plant elaborate gardens.

Trouble started the day of the fire when firefighters couldn't drive their trucks in because the dirt roads were too narrow. They had to stop traffic to run a hose across busy Hollywood Way to a fire hydrant, because there are no hydrants in the park.

The fire investigators' initial recommendation to the city was to buy the site, shut it down, and find new homes for the residents. That idea was rejected as too expensive, said Bob Reinhardt, a fire investigator for Burbank Fire Department.

Burbank was once home to at least four other trailer parks, but all have closed.

Kahabka said that's not a surprise, since the trend has been for older trailer parks to close rather than modernize because of the high expense and a lack of interested tenants, who can live in apartments for the same rent as a modern trailer.

Firefighters cringe when they get a fire call to a trailer park, fearing the worst, Reinhardt said. ``They go up so fast you can't get a stop on them,'' he said. ``By the time you get there it's an inferno.''

The trick is to find a balance between forcing owners and tenants to make the expensive renovations needed, while not forcing them out into the streets.

``Our intent is not to write them up so much to force them out,'' Reinhardt said. ``It's not the Fire Department's aim to displace these people.''

Still, Reinhardt admits city officials would rather see the city's last trailer park close.

The trailer park has been owned since its inception in 1947 by Canadian Kenneth Peterson, who has since put ownership under the Kenneth Peterson Trust. Kahabka said the park will respond to the city's demands concerning electrical, gas and structural safety. He said he would not object if the city wanted to install the hydrants, even though it would mean relocating some residents during construction.

Fioritio said she moved into the park in October, buying a trailer from the park for $5,000.

If the park shuts down, she doesn't think she'd be able to take the trailer with her. ``How do you move a trailer that was made in 1948?'' Fioritio asked.

``No park wants old trailers.''

CAPTION(S):

3 Photos

PHOTO (1) The Hollywood Way Trailer Court in Burbank has 48 of 80 lots filled, many by large immigrant families, but is showing its age after 50 years in business.

(2) A fire at this lot at the Hollywood Way Trailer Court alerted authorities to the need for safety upgrades in the whole park, the only one in Burbank.

Phil McCarten/Daily News

(3) Robert Robinson