Winter May Expose Hidden Big Bear Earthquake Damage : Rebuilding: Weight of snow on roofs could cause weakened structures to collapse. Construction crews race to finish repairs.

BIG BEAR LAKE — Tim Barney, chief of the Big Bear Lake Building Department, is awaiting winter at this mountain resort with trepidation. Only when the snow piles up on the roofs of homes and businesses will the full extent of damage from the June 28 earthquake be revealed, he fears.

“We had snow collapses last year resulting from normal decay,” Barney said. “But the quake certainly put additional stress on critical joints, it fractured dry walls, and often the damage is not all that visible.

“We know some people neglected to call us, and the first we’re going to hear is when a house gives way,” he said.

Until then, repairs are progressing at a rapid pace on the homes and businesses known to be damaged. With construction down in the rest of recession-stricken Southern California, numerous contractors have migrated to Big Bear to find work.

The magnitude 6.6 Big Bear earthquake, striking just three hours after the 7.5 Landers quake 20 miles to the east, was followed by frequent moderate aftershocks, which have faded in the last couple of months.

“It’s been quite a while since there have been any noticeable tremors, although it’s still in the back of our minds,” said Brad Sullivan, executive director of the local Chamber of Commerce.

These days, Big Bear Lake is focused on having a successful winter ski season and is eager to reassure visitors that all has pretty much returned to normal.

Merchants and innkeepers are pinning their hopes on a rebound. Sullivan said that in July, during the resort’s summer season, “some businesses told us their trade was off 80%.”

There have been encouraging signs that patronage is returning. In September and October, business receipts were up slightly over the previous year. The U.S. Forest Service traffic count was up 8% over 1991.

In preparation for the skiing season, a four-lane highway project through the heart of the congested downtown district has been completed, artificial snow has been laid down at Bear Mountain, and the slopes opened in near-freezing temperatures last week.

Big Bear, with 1,200 hotel rooms, draws about 5 million visitors a year, most of them from lowland Southern California. Comparatively few rooms were lost in the quake. On winter weekends the town often fills up quickly and tourists are advised to call ahead for lodging information.

One place that will have fewer units this winter is the Fireside Lodge. “We’re ready for a fine season,” said owner John Petrucelli. “But for the time being, we’re going to have to make do with just 11 units rather than 20.”

The lodge’s brick masonry structures housing nine rooms collapsed in the quake while the wood frame ones survived. Having obtained a maximum $500,000 loan at 4% interest from the federal Small Business Administration, Petrucelli and his wife, Sandie, were outside last week watching contractors pour foundations for new units before the ground freezes.

The quickening tempo of repairs of homes is most evident in the Moonridge neighborhood on the southeast side of town, where quake damage was the worst. On some blocks, workers can be seen at nearly every house, trying to finish before the snow flies.

“We had earthquake insurance,” said homeowner Tony Innerhofer, “and my son is a structural engineer who got us some free architectural drawings. Still, the bill for our repair is running $140,000. It’s outrageous.”

Building chief Barney is pleased with how quickly the repair work is going. What worries him are the cases where homeowners have not asked for inspections that might reveal a structure out of alignment and in some cases beyond repair.

Patrick Carroll, a housing inspector, pointed out a number of “red-tagged” dwellings declared uninhabitable in Moonridge and the Sugarloaf neighborhood. From the street, they appeared to be fine. On closer inspection, it was clear that structural damage was so severe that the houses might have to be demolished.

With homeowners still calling his department for inspections at the rate of five or six a day, Barney had supervised nine residential and 23 commercial demolitions as of last week. His crew red-tagged 158 homes, about half of which may have to be demolished.

Of the nearly 5,000 dwellings inspected in the city of Big Bear Lake, 1,526 had chimney failures and 614 had foundation failures. The wood frame houses built in mountain styles with exotic angles suffered more than standard rectangular structures.

With earthquake insurance, SBA loans and a special state quake insurance program paying up to $14,000 before it is repealed Jan. 1, most of the hundreds of dwellings and businesses that can be fixed are being repaired.

But there are hang-ups, officials say. Some lenders have been unwilling to suspend or lower mortgage payments, leaving residents unable to pay back even low-cost new loans. Disbursements from the SBA are often slow. The cases of a number of low-income people have fallen through the cracks and the residents are hard put to qualify for low-cost loans.

One such person is Lois Rowe, a 68-year-old widow subsisting on pension and Social Security payments that total $1,200 a month.

At first, Rowe believed that her home, which she owned free and clear, had escaped major damage. But later, when she called Barney, his inspectors concluded that the home was damaged beyond repair. A short time later, it was razed.

Rowe is now paying $450 monthly rent to live in a cottage, and is hoping that she can rebuild a smaller home.

“The SBA turned me down,” Rowe said tearfully. “They said I didn’t have enough in income to pay $533-a-month on the loan I wanted from them. . . . But now, they say they may reconsider.”

Rowe said that between her monthly rent and storage fees for furniture removed from her home, she is paying more than $533 a month. “They’ve told me it would cost $172,000 to rebuild, but I’m sure I could get it done for $130,000,” she said.

The maximum SBA loan for homeowners is $100,000, and Rowe will get $14,000 from the state’s earthquake insurance program. She is seeking a government grant for the rest.

Rick Jenkins, an SBA spokesman, while noting that privacy rules forbid him from discussing Rowe’s case, said that the government “bases our judgment on credit” and “wants some reasonable assurance the loan will be repaid.” It does not have a policy of refusing loans to the elderly living on fixed incomes, he said.

The widow did win one small battle recently. When she moved out of the house, she left behind about $3,000 to $4,000 worth of antique fireplace equipment, only to find later that it was stolen.

At first, her Farmers Insurance agent told her the theft claim would not be honored because the house had not been locked, she said. But later, a Farmers spokesman said the theft claim would be paid. That would move Rowe another small step toward the $130,000.

Barney said that even as Big Bear heads for recovery, he sympathizes with the homeowners who are having trouble getting back on their feet.

“Some people who don’t need the money are striking these mammoth low-cost loans,” he said. “It isn’t right that those who need them the most can’t get them.”