LOS ANGELES -- When Jim Ashby arrives in a neighborhood, people rush up before he can even step out of his car.
In normal times, Ashby is no celebrity.
But in the wake of Monday's earthquake, Ashby and the city's 450 other building inspectors have the power to tell shaken residents if they can return to their homes and apartments - or must hang the red "UNSAFE" sign on their doors.
And so Ashby's arrival stirs both hope and fear among those waiting anxiously.
"A lot of times you are the first one letting them know help is on the way," he says. "You're trying to comfort people. . . . You don't want to throw people out unnecessarily."
Since Monday's earthquake, officials have inspected 3,000 to 4,000 homes and buildings, checking foundations, cracks and gas lines.
"This is probably the most extensive damage assessment that our inspectors have had to deal with in recent decades," says Dave Keim of the building and safety department.
While residents anxiously await the inspector, many try to salvage what they can in case their buildings are condemned and they aren't allowed to go back inside.
Throughout the city Wednesday, people rushed in and out of quake-damaged apartments and homes, tossing pots and pans, clothes, stereos and furniture into trucks.
Near the quake's epicenter in Northridge, a procession of rental moving vans pulled away as work crews unrolled a chain-link fence around a condemned apartment building.
"You could say it's a madhouse in here," says Norm Plotkin, a worker at a U-Haul rental center, as a crush of people lined up for trucks.
At damaged buildings, inspections can take 15 minutes - or all day, says Ashby. First, he looks to see if the walls have moved from their foundations. He studies whether stairways are disconnected or if exits have been blocked.
At the end of his tours, he often finds himself bringing bad news to people like Amanda Caldera.
Caldera, 17, was rushing to load clothes into her car outside her apartment building on Reseda Boulevard, where she had lived with her mother, Diana, 40 and sister, Christina, 15. Ashby announced the building was no longer safe.
"I lived here all my life," Caldera says. "This is my home."
The quake blew windows out of the complex, crumbling a chimney, cracking walls and bending garage foundations.
As the Calderas listen to Ashby, a fierce aftershock rocks a disconnected stairway and sways telephone poles.
Ashby tempers the bad news: The foundation is sound and can be rebuilt.
"That's great, it gives me hope," says Diana Caldera. "It's not the greatest place in the world, but it's home."
How to read damage signs
Buildings that survive disaster may look fine but often have serious structural damage. Signs of damage:
Small cracks in ceilings and walls or diagonal cracks coming from windows and doors indicate the house shifted, but ended up on its foundation.
House leaning over its foundation indicates walls can't support load.
House sagging in a corner or on a side or a buckled driveway indicates that the ground underneath gave way.
Other warning signs:
Jammed doors and windows.
Broken windows, doors or chimney.
Severed utility lines.
Walls separated from floors or ceilings.
Bowing in rigid materials such as sheetrock or wall tiles.
