 |
| Photo By Craig Allyn Rose |
Shortly before 11:30 A.M. on Wednesday, July 30, San Jose Fire dispatchers received reports of a fence and
tree fire at 4325 Hampshire Place in San Jose's Thousand Oaks
neighborhood. Before the first units arrived, reports indicated that the fire
had spread to the adjacent house. Engine 28, responding from nearby Fire Station
13, arrived in only a couple of minutes and reported that the home at 4328 Hampshire Place was
engulfed in fire, and fire was spreading to the adjoining home on the
Bravo side. Engine 28 quickly declared the original home a defensive fire and directed incoming crews to work offensively on the Bravo 1 exposure.
With
the situation clearly worsening, Battalion 29, responding from downtown,
called for a second alarm. After arriving on scene and assuming the IC, Battalion 29
called for a 3rd alarm at 11:39 A.M., a 4th alarm at 11:54 A.M., and a 5th alarm at
12:11 A.M. 4th alarm units came from mutual aid, including Santa Clara
County Fire and Santa Clara City Fire, while additional mutual units were
requested for station coverage in San Jose.
Crews
were working on saving the Bravo 1 exposure and dealing with threats to
the Delta exposure. The temperature was in the upper 80s and crews were
working hard to stop the fire from spreading. Many of the homes in the
neighborhood still have shake shingle roofs, which caused more concern for
firefighters.
With the 3rd alarm
request, Fire Associates members were paged to the scene. John Whiteside
responded with Fire Support Unit 3, and he was met on scene by FASCV members
Bruce Dembecki and Mike Garcia. The high heat of the day meant that re-hydration and
rehab became an important part of the operation. FSU-3 went through all
the ice it could carry in less than an hour, and Mike made a run to the store for
additional ice. Misting fans were set up as crews were put through formal
rehab. FSU-3's supplies of Gatorade and bottled water were taxed, and
additional supplies were brought in from Station 30. With an extended
operation involving many fire crews, Fire Associates team members
organized and served 70 meals for crews to get them through the hot
summer afternoon.
By the end of the
afternoon, the original house was destroyed, but crews had managed to
save the Bravo 1 exposure - although it was heavily damaged. Most
impressively, fire crews had prevented the fire from spreading to the
Delta exposure and protected the rest of the neighborhood. There were no
injuries as a result of the blaze.
- Photos by Craig Allyn Rose can be viewed at: Houses Burn
-- Report submitted by Bruce Dembecki
