July 30, 2007 -- Milpitas 2-Alarm Response

Shortly after 07:15, while returning from the scene of Santa Clara City Fire Department's 3-alarm fire, FASCV received a page for a second response -- a 2-alarm Hazmat incident in Milpitas at the intersection of Capitol Avenue and Montague Expressway. All four FASCV responders to Santa Clara's incident immediately changed plans and responded with Support Unit 1 to Milpitas Fire Department's event.

A truck driver reported smelling a noxious odor coming from his vehicle and Milpitas and Santa Clara County Hazmat teams responded to determine the level of danger. Eventually, crews were unable to determine the cause of the odor and FASCV was released from this second incident of the morning at approximately 09:00.

John's photos from this event can be found at the following link: Milpitas Hazmat.

KRON TV's news story of the event can be read at: "Roads in Milpitas Re-Open After Hazardous Gas Leak Scare".

-- Information provided by FASCV member John Whitaker and KRON TV

July 30, 2007 -- Santa Clara 3-Alarm Response

At 04:34 Monday morning, FASCV responded to a 2-alarm fire at 3475 El Camino Real. The fire was located in the China Way restaurant located near the intersection of El Camino Real and Flora Vista. Bob Gundrum brought Support Unit 1 to the Santa Clara Fire Department event. Also on scene for FASCV were John Whitaker, Jerry Haag and Ron Green.

Equipment from Santa Clara, Sunnyvale and Santa Clara County responded to the fire which eventually went to 3 alarms. Of immediate concern to firefighters was an Econo Lodge motel next to the restaurant and an adjacent trailer hitch business.

John's photos from this fire can be found at this link: Santa Clara Restaurant Fire.

NBC11's news story can be viewed at this link: "Fire Burns South Bay Restaurant"

-- Information for this story provided by John Whitaker and NBC11

"The Embers" Newsletter - August 2007

The August 2007 edition of "The Embers" is now available on line.

August Meeting Site Announced

On Thursday, August 2, at 7:30 P.M. our monthly meeting will be held at San Jose Fire Department's Station 16. The station is located on the southwest corner of South King Rd. and Cunningham Ave. at 2001 South King Road, San Jose 95122. Our host will be A-shift Captain Jim Blean.

Highlight of our meeting will be a walk-around of the new Engine 16. This is one of San Jose's newest acquisitions. Built by Ferrara Fire Apparatus, Inc. on a Spartan Gladiator Classic chassis, these rigs feature 430HP of Caterpillar power with a Hale QTWO, double stage, 1,500GPM pump.

Note: Since this is one of San Jose's older stations, there is no community room available for our meeting. So, remember to bring some folding chairs as we will be sitting in the equipment bay.

DINNER PLANS...
For those interested, we will meet at 5:45 PM for dinner at the new Macaroni Grill, located on a parking lot pad at the newly updated Eastridge shopping mall. The restaurant is located at 2226 Eastridge Loop, San Jose 95122-1465. See you there!

July 19, 2007 -- San Jose 4-Alarm Response

At 04:32, while on the scene of an early morning fire in Campbell, FASCV received a page for second fire -- this time a 4-alarmer in downtown San Jose. The fire was located at the intersection of Fourth Street and East St. John -- just a block from San Jose's new City Hall. Don and John were released by the Santa Clara County Fire incident commander and responded in Support Unit 2 to the San Jose Fire Department's event.

First-due Engine 8 arrived on the scene to find fire rolling up the exterior of the building and leaping 20 feet above the roof! A real bonfire! The fully-involved structure was a Victorian home known as the Houghton Donner House. Built in 1881, the house was placed on the historic register in 2002. The building gets its name because it was once the home of one of the survivors of the Donner party.

Don and John helped serve numerous pots of coffee, 4 dozen donuts and a box-and-a-half of Power Bars, as well as place traffic cones and direct traffic -- as many morning commuters seemed oblivious to a 5-inch supply hose as they drove over it in an attempt to park in a near-by parking garage. SJPD eventually took over the task. FASCV was released at 0935. It was a long morning.

John Whitaker's photos from this fire can be seen at: SJFD - Victorian.

News video of the fire can bee seen at: NBC11 News. Further details about the fire can be read at this link in The San Jose Mercury News.

-- This information provided by "The Blogmaster"

July 19, 2007 -- Campbell Response

At 02:25 on Thursday, Don Gilbert, in Support Unit 2, and John Whitaker responded at the request of Santa Clara County Fire to 2120 South Winchester Ave. in Campbell. Located on the corner of S. Winchester and West Rincon Ave., the fire involved a Firestone Tire Co. store. The smokey fire was difficult to access because of three, roll-up, steel service bay doors. County firefighters cut through the doors with a power saw and found the interior filled with smoke. Other than an oily smoke coating all the interior, major damage seemed to be confined to two vehicles in one of the service bays.

Photos of this fire can be found at this link: SCCFD - July 19, 2007

While on scene, FASCV received a page for second fire -- this time in downtown San Jose. Since the Campbell fire activity was dying down, Don and John "demobed" and responded to San Jose. See the blog post entitled "July 19, 2007 -- San Jose 4-Alarm Response" for details.

-- This information provided by "The Blogmaster"

Dinner Before July Monthly Meeting

Just in from Ed Del Prete -- Dinner before tomorrow night's FASCV monthly meeting will be
at Holders Country Inn on DeAnza Blvd. (s/o Bollinger and across form Home Depot) at 
17:30 hrs. Remember, our meeting will be at Santa Clara County Fire's "Seven Springs"
station, located at 21000 Seven Springs Prkwy., in Cupertino, 95014.