Aug. 2, 2008 -- Response for Santa Clara County Fire

On Saturday night, August 2, at 9:56 P.M., FASCV was paged by Santa Clara County Fire to a grass fire in the Redwood Estates village off Highway 17. Located in the Santa Cruz Mountains off La Verne Drive, the fire was down at the base of a very steep ravine near a tree house. Responding for FASCV was John Whiteside in Support Unit 2 who was met at the scene by John Whitaker.

Thank goodness for GPS!!!

The roads in this area resemble driveways more than streets and finding one's way in the darkness without an exact address proved to be a challenge. Once located, vehicle access was limited with atleast 10 fire rigs parked nose-to-tail in the darkness. The incident was declared a "high dispatch" fire because of the limited access and the fire's potential to race up the hillside. Although technically only a single alarm, a special request was made for Fire Associates' service.

Gatorade, water and Cliff Bars were walked into the fire command area to refresh very tired fire crews. One firefighter was transported by AMR ambulance due to exhaustion. FASCV was asked to leave the provisions on scene and then back out our vehicles to allow access for the AMR rig. The Support Unit was returned to quarters around midnight.