For more than 80 years the 7 Oaks Mountain Cabins have been a quiet place for vacationers to relax in the San Bernardino Mountains.
Tuesday a man thought to be Christopher Dorner hid out in the main cabin, which turned out to be the spot of his last stand.
"I was just in shock," said Eric Funnell, whose mother owns the 7 Oaks Mountain Cabins.
Funnell's mother reached him Tuesday afternoon when he was at work.
"My mom texted me: 'Dorner's at the cabins. Firefight!'," said Funnell. "So I immediately found the closest TV, which was next door, and first thing I saw was our cabins there, and I was just in shock and disarray."
Funnell owns 911 Restoration Inc., a company that cleans up after fires and other disasters. Just last week, he says, he joked with a colleague that Dorner may end up at the cabins.
"I said 'Hey, I may need your assistance on a trauma scene cleanup because this guy is running loose around my mom's cabins,'" said Funnel. "And lo and behold I look on the TV and it came to fruition."
Funnell says no one from his family has been allowed to return to 7 Oaks Mountain Cabins while investigators are poring over the ruins.
Judging by news media aerial shots, he says out of the nine structures on the property, it appears only the main cabin was seriously damaged. It was burned to the ground.
But Funnell says the federally protected building is insured and will be rebuilt. It's an emotional loss that he and his family are trying to keep in perspective.
"We lost a cabin. There's others that have lost their lives, their loved ones, husbands and fathers, so what we've lost is nothing compared to what other people have lost too," said Funnell.
