SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – The Murphy Canyon neighborhood on Sample Street where last Thursday’s deadly plane crash is completely different one week later. It went from looking like a war zone to one that’s been massively cleaned up since the incident.
“This is the first time we’ve been back in minus getting escorted to get a couple other things,” Thomas Lawrence said.
Lawrence and his family are back inside their home on Thursday morning.
“My children were the biggest factor; wasn’t sure how they were going to react. And they’re fine playing with their magnet tiles, eating some pizza, helping gather up some of their stuffed animals,” Lawrence said.
But their time back in the home is short-lived.
“We’re all on the same page. We’re going somewhere new and it’s going to be fine,” Lawrence said.
ABC 10New spoke with the CEO of Liberty Military Housing about the work being done to help the families impacted by the plane crash on Thursday.
“Obviously, we want to get families back some level of normalcy to the extent that’s possible,” Philip J. Rizzo, the CEO of Liberty Military Housing, said.
Rizzo told ABC 10News Liberty was able to place 39 families in temporary housing or an Airbnb. Starting Thursday afternoon and evening, he said people will be able to go back into their homes Thursday if they choose to.
“We’re working with them to either get them back into their home that they were living in on last Wednesday night or we’re getting them into a home that they feel comfortable in,” Rizzo said.
According to Rizzo, there will be two units in a fourplex that will be displaced for an extended period of time.
He also stated that at least 20 of the 39 impacted families have been assigned or provided with a new home within Liberty Military Housing.
“They’ll be able to get keys and start moving their things in today to those new homes that they’ve sent that they’ve been assigned and those homes are ready. They’ll be able to stay in the AirBnB for as long as that move process takes” Rizzo said.
The move to a new house is about a much-needed and desired change of scenery for Lawrence, all the way down to the floor plan and street.
“We need to completely reset, so we're going to go somewhere else, and that way when the kids walk out the front door, they're not going to see the same street that once upon a time was on fire,” Lawrence said.
It’s been a tough week for this street and its residents.
But what’s not been lost for many is gratitude to all the help they’ve gotten during this time.
“We haven't wanted for much. We just needed a clear path forward after the dust settled, and Liberty's helping us out, and we'll get through it,” Lawrence said.
