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On Tuesday morning, December 23, Fire Associates was paged by Santa Clara County Fire to 18445 Shadowbrook Way in Morgan Hill. Responding to the 5:14 A.M. page was John Whiteside and Don Gilbert in Support Unit 2. Meeting them on scene were Mike Chappell and John Whitaker. Mike lives only a few blocks from the fire scene.
The fire was located to the west of Monterey Hwy., very near County Sta. 12, just up Llagas Rd. The garage of the 2,050 sq. ft. home was fully involved when Eng. 12 arrived on scene. Limited access to the structure hampered early firefighting efforts. The single-story home was located down a long, narrow driveway off the cul-de-sac. As the fire burned in the garage, the residents first awoke when their power went out. They then noticed smoke coming under their bedroom door and evacuated the structure. A Corvette was destroyed in the garage and a Mazda SUV and a pick-up were destroyed and/or damaged in the driveway.
Firefighters were happy to see our donuts and coffee arrive as the early morning weather was cold and damp. Rain was in the vicinity, but fortunately stayed away for the duration of the event. The support unit was released from service shortly before 9:00 A.M.
On December 19, Fire Associates was paged by Santa Clara City Fire to a 2nd-alarm structure fire. Jerry Haag responded to the call in Support Unit 1 to the incident at 1361 Calabazas. Jerry was met on scene by FASCV members Bob Gundrum and George Hoyt.
For the second fire in a row in the City of Santa Clara, Jerry Haag has submitted the following:
"This was a two-story apartment building. The fire (was located) in a front unit on the second floor. The first engine in made an aggressive attack and knocked down the fire before it could get into the attic space. We were paged out at 11:38 A.M. and were back in quarters at 1:45 P.M."
Bob Gundrum supplied the accompanying photo.
On Tuesday, December 16, FASCV was paged at 4:06 PM by Santa Clara City Fire. Bob Gundrum and Jerry Haag responded to the 3rd-alarm fire with Support Unit 1. The fire was located at 2097 Duane Ave.
Jerry Haag submitted the following report:
"It was for an electrical room fire at a small industrial building. There was lots of hazmat in the building but the fire was confined to the room of origin. There was a second alarm response at the fire on Duane, the third was called for station coverage, since they had several simultaneous incidents elsewhere in the city. That situation had them down to one in-service engine at one point. We went through one pot of coffee and a few bottled drinks and returned to quarters about 7:00 PM."
For the last few weeks, things have been quiet on the fire scene in the Santa Clara Valley -- Until today! Fire Associates responded to 3 calls for help. Details follow:
Fire 1) 11:57 P.M. (technically on Dec. 8th), 2nd Alarm, Santa Clara County Fire. John Whiteside responded in Support Unit 2 to 19621 Black Rd. in the hills above Lexington Reservoir. The fire fully consumed a home on Black Arrow Road, about 1,000 feet off the 20000-block of Black Rd. Met on scene by John Whitaker and Don Gilbert, the Support Unit's hot coffee and donuts were well-received by cold firefighters. The Support Unit remained on scene until approximately 5:00 A.M.
Fire 2) 1:13 A.M., 2nd Alarm, Mountain View Fire. Larry Carr and Jerry Haag responded with Support Unit 4 to 2320 California Street. Although canceled en route, Jerry Haag reported that the fire was on a balcony of a two-story apartment building and spread into the second-floor apartment. Quick knockdown by Engine 3. 11 adults and 3 children displaced. The support unit was returned to quarters at approximately 2:50 A.M.
Fire 3) 2:45 P.M., 3rd Alarm, San Jose Fire (see photo above). John Whiteside responded in Support Unit 2 to the call at 1088 Wheat Court in the City's eastern foothills. The fire fully involved a two-story house. John was met on scene by John Whitaker, Fred Oehm, George Hoyt and Mike Chappell. The firefighting efforts were made interesting by a Life Safety Alert for gun powder and ammunition stored in the garage. No detonation occurred, however. Support Unit 2 was released at 5:00 P.M.
John Whitaker's photos from 1088 Wheat Court incident can be seen at: SJS - Wheat Court Fire
Six additional photos can be viewed at: abclocal.go.com
