A Palmdale nonprofit’s huge Christmas collection burned to the ground

Despite losing most of their Christmas props in a house fire in August, a Palmdale family is determined to continue their annual holiday cheer throughout the Santa Clarita and Antelope valleys and anywhere else they are needed.

“I don’t know what I’m going through,” said matriarch Maria Spargifiore. “It’s like, ‘Stop the world, I want to get off already’ (but) we can’t disappoint the children.”

She and her four children have operated the nonprofit SVC Santa for more than a decade, starting when they went to schools and hospitals dressed as Mr. and Mrs. Claus to put on a variety show. Today the family works alongside the Los Angeles Police Department and L.A. County Sheriff’s Department handing out gifts while bringing smiles to children at Ronald McDonald House, St. Jude Children’s Hospital and other venues.

But on Aug. 23 in the 3600 block of Crystal Court in Palmdale, where they had moved in 2019 to a spacious home with about a half-acre of land, their worst nightmare struck when a fire broke out.

Spargifiore was sick in bed when her daughter came home and saw an orange glow in the backyard and yelled, “Mom! The backyard is on fire!” Spargifiore recalled, “She ran downstairs to get the hose and tried to put it out and … she almost got the fire out — but then there was a gust of wind and the fire went up and over her and hit the shed and then she started screaming, ‘Mom! Get out of the house!’”

The fire quickly burned a large shed on their property where they kept thousands of dollars worth of Christmas decorations and props, and Spargifiore had to flee her home wearing a pajama top and a pair of capris.

“I didn’t even grab shoes, and I was out the door” Spargifiore said of the fire that destroyed the shed and left part of their home blackened. Tragically, the family lost four beloved pets: Angel, a Chihuahua rescue; Rex, a Shepherd mix; and two kittens.

“We (still) have Baby, a Papillon, and Gizmo is a Shih Tzu,” Spargifiore said.

As of Oct. 1, the cause of the August fire remains under investigation, according to the County of Los Angeles Fire Department.

A few special items survived the fire because the family, getting ready for their Christmastime ritual, removed them from the shed before the blaze broke out: A picture of Santa Claus and a 12-foot-tall Christmas tree survived, and, Spargifiore said, “I have two giant, 7-foot-tall nutcrackers, which survived,” along with two red chairs, and a couch imported from Italy.

“I’m hoping to God we can get that cleaned,” she said of the chairs and couch. “There’s smoke damage and it smells horrible in there.” One wall is still standing, “but it’s black(ened).”

Spargifiore launched her nonprofit, SCV Santa, when her daughter’s fourth-grade Christmas program was in trouble after the person expected to play Santa Claus suffered a heart attack.

Spargifiore insisted the school couldn’t have a Christmas program without a Santa. “My boys jumped at it and literally were fighting, the two of them, about who was going to be Santa,” she said.

Her 6’9” son portrays Santa, and her daughter plays Mrs. Claus. Another daughter is an elf, and one son is Sgt. Jiggles who drives the North Pole Patrol car that delivers Santa with lights and sirens.

“We improved our costumes every year, we buy props, change up our looks to keep it fresh and a surprise,” she said. They added the Mrs. Claus “because we have a very big Santa, he’s 6’9”, and sometimes kids get intimidated. But when you have Mrs. Claus there, kids tend to gravitate toward the mother/grandmother figure.”

With the holidays coming up, she said, “We already have people who booked us for photos and events, and we won’t let the kids down.”