On November 27, at 11:45 P.M., FASCV was paged by the San Jose Fire Department to a 4-alarm fire. The fire involved a large, single-story, Victorian structure located at 580 N. 5th Street, in the Japantown district of the city. John Whiteside brought Support Unit 2 and was met my John Whitaker and George Hoyt, who were already on scene.First-arriving fire crews had to rescue three occupants of the 100-year-old structure. Eight others escaped unharmed. Unfortunately, the fire resulted in the death of another resident of the boarding house whose body was not found until hours after the fire had been controlled.
John Whitaker's photos of the event can be viewed at this link: SJS 4-Alarm Fire. News stories and video can be viewed at: NBC11 Video and SJ Mercury-News.
John Whiteside was on scene until 5:00 A.M, when he was released by the IC.
However, a little over 3 hours later, Support Unit 2 was back at the fire in respose to a special request. Truck crews had to remain on scene throughout the morning as Arson, Homicide and Coroner's Department personnel sifted through the buildings rubble. John Whitaker responded to the 8:30 A.M. call and was joined later in the morning by FASCV members Ed Del Prete and Rick James. FASCV provided the usual morning donuts, coffee and water an later served 45 sandwiches, chips, drinks and cookies.
Support Unit 2 was finally released at 1:30 P.M.
