Unlicensed Trailer Parks: Unsafe to Stay, But Nowhere Else to Go

September 4, 2011

Felipe Flores and his 10-month-old daughter, Kimberly, had to seek refuge with family members after their power went out at the Hernandez mobile home park in Thermal. The thermometer over Flores’ shoulder reads 110 degrees in the shade. / Omar Ornelas, The Desert Sun

Felipe Flores and his 10-month-old daughter, Kimberly, had to seek refuge with family members after their power went out at the Hernandez mobile home park in Thermal. The thermometer over Flores’ shoulder reads 110 degrees in the shade. / Omar Ornelas, The Desert Sun.

Residents of one Thermal mobile home park are demanding action

For 14-year-old Jonathan Contreras, the worst part of living without power during triple-digit temperatures is trying to sleep.

He has had plenty of practice. A year ago this week, a strained electrical box caught fire. It supplied power to about half of the mobile homes in the park where Contreras and his family live.

The residents were without power - no air conditioning, fans, lights or refrigeration - for a month.

"You couldn't sleep," said Contreras, a student at Toro Canyon Middle School. By the end of the school day, he grew tired and sluggish.

Read the full article >>

Omar Ornelas, The Desert Sun.


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