FASCV Responds to Second Fire of the Day

Date and Time: 11-25-2013, 1713 hours
Agency: Santa Clara County Fire Dept.
Incident Address: 52 Almond Ave., Los Altos
Type: Second Alarm

Details: Fire in a small, single-story, single-family dwelling.

The fire was in a nice little cottage that was probably built in the '20s. Peak roof with usable attic space. The incident started with a report of an electrical fault on the cul-de-sac behind the house. Shortly after arrival of Engine 15 (fire station is right next door) and discovery of live wires on the ground the occupant reported that they smelled smoke in the house. Upon further investigation it was determined that there was fire in the basement with smoke and heat building up. Horizontal ventilation was initiated by removing basement windows and the IC requested a second alarm because of potential fire spread to upper floors. Jerry Haag had been monitoring the radio traffic and immediately called Larry Carr for a response in anticipation of the normal notification from Sonitrol. Larry was on-scene with Fire Support Unit 4 within about 20 minutes and provided rehab for about 2 hours before release. We enjoyed a Togo's sandwich compliments of County Fire.

Agency Responders:
CNT: E-1, 2, 7, 9, 15 (three hand lines), 16; T-1; R-14, 17; BS-2; HM-2; Batt. 3, 14 (IC-Pearson)

FASCV Responding Units: FSU-4. Released: 1945 hours.
FASCV Responders: Larry Carr (driver), Jerry Haag, and Dan Wong.

-- Report submitted by Jerry Haag