Sunday, March 16, 2014

Two-Alarm Townhome Blaze Brings Response from Santa Clara County Fire

  
Photo By John Whitaker
On Sunday evening, March 16, having just finished an afternoon incident supporting Mountain View Fire, Fire Associates members Jerry Haag and Bruce Dembecki were cleaning and restocking Fire Support Unit 1 back at Santa Clara Fire Station 9. Just as the ice had been reloaded back into the freezer, Santa Clara County Fire escalated a Los Gatos fire to a second alarm. Knowing that their response could be quick (as they were in the fire station with the Support Unit), the rig was reloaded and FSU-1 took off for Los Gatos.
  
Meanwhile, FASCV South County members were preparing a response from their end of the Valley. After some quick phone calls, Fire Support Unit 1 was cleared for Los Gatos while the South County teams were informed to meet up on scene at 554 Pine Wood Lane, Los Gatos.
  
Santa Clara County fire crews had been called for a kitchen fire. It was reported that a babysitter attempted to extinguish a stovetop grease fire with water. This caused an immediate explosion in the town home and fire extended into the cabinetwork. Worse, the exploding grease caused some minor burns to the babysitter, who was transported to hospital.
   
With two alarms of people and equipment on hand, County Fire crews quickly had the situation under control, and were able to prevent the spread of the fire to other townhouses in the complex.
   
Fire Associates President, Jerry Haag, arrived on scene in Support Unit 1 at approximately 7:45 P.M. and was met on scene by FASCV members Bruce Dembecki, John Whiteside, John Whitaker, Don Gilbert, Dan Wong, and making his second ever official response (on the same day as his first response) was Mike Garcia! Rehab was established with cold drinks and hot coffee. Firefighters made quick work of the overhaul and most units were released by 9:00 P.M., with FSU-1 back in quarters for the second time that evening at 9:30 P.M.
-- Report submitted by Bruce Dembecki