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| Photo by John Whitaker |
Late Tuesday morning, March 24, the Milpitas Fire Department responded to a house fire in a residential neighborhood just north of Dixon Rd. Located at 186 Autrey Street, first reports of the fire came in shortly before 10:50 A.M. The blaze was described as burning in the roof and attic space of the house.
First arriving fire crews from Station 86 found flames rolling out of the structure and a large column of smoke was visible. Since a "full structure response" pretty much involves all of Milpitas' fire apparatus, a second alarm was called for additional manpower and station backfill. Units from San Jose and Fremont responded to fill out that need. Milpitas Fire Department
spokesman, Sean Simonson, said the cause of the fire is under investigation, but that nobody was trapped in the structure, there were
no injuries, and anyone who was inside the single-family home was able to
get out safely.
With the second alarm request, Fire Associates members were paged to the scene. Mike Garcia went to get Fire Support Unit 1 while John Whitaker left his home to go directly to the scene. Once at the fire, John was able to status the need for rehab with BC Jason Schoonover. A location for the support unit was scouted out, and when Mike arrived, rehab was quickly set up with a table, benches, drinks and snacks. As it became obvious that the extensive overhaul operation was going to extend into the lunch hour, Milpitas PIO Sean Simonson arranged for sandwiches to be delivered. They were quickly consumed by tired and grateful firefighters.
In the category of "find a job and fill it", John and Mike spent part of their time protecting a 2-inch hose line that had been laid from a hydrant on Arizona Ave. to the fire scene. Although cones had been put out, vehicles were constantly driving over the brand new fire hose. John and Mike were able to protect the line by getting drivers to make u-turns and take an alternate route.
As the operation wound down, and hose lines were picked up, FASCV was released from the scene at approximately 1:45 P.M.
- John's photos can be viewed at this link: Autrey St. Fire
- A San Jose Mercury News story can be read at: 2-alarm Fire in Milpitas
-- Report Submitted by John Whitaker
