C. Jake Truman gives us some follow-up on this weekend's house fire:

Virginia Lance, a native Altadena resident, suffered an unfortunate accident this past weekend.  First she fell and broke her arm, then the following night there was a tragic fire and her house on North Lake Avenue burned down.  Virginia lost all of her possessions and her home.   Luckily she was not injured further in the fire.

Virginia owned several businesses in the Altadena area over the years:  The Barber Pole (clothing store for men), Park Bench Deli, Lance & Lee Real Estate.  She was named Altadena Citizen of the year and has given a great deal to the community of Altadena, contributing to the Altadena Chamber of Commerce, Christmas Tree Lane and many other organizations.  She also devoted many years to the real estate community, serving on many committees and was the President of the Pasadena Board of Realtors in 1993.   Hopefully you will see it in your hearts to give back to Virginia.

Virginia is going to need everything:  clothes, furniture, etc but the most important thing that she needs at this particular time is a place for her to live while the house is being rebuilt.   Virginia is 87 (her birthday was the day after the fire) and she has live-in help 24-7.   She doesn’t need a very large space; one bedroom will suffice.   She also has a small “lap dog” named Scrappy.  He is a Havanese, house broken and well trained.

She will probably need to rent from 6-12 months and the insurance company will pay the rent.   If it is necessary to go beyond 12 months the family will make the necessary arrangements to pay.

If anyone has anything in the Altadena area in a safe area that they would be willing to rent to Virginia as she recovers from this tragic event please C. Jake at 626-791-0475 or c.jake@sbcglobal.net.  

(I am doing this as a friend and no real estate commissions will be expected from my side of the transaction.)