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| Photo by Mike Garcia |
On Sunday
night, April 24, at approximately 11:40 P.M., Santa Clara County Fire (CNT) received
reports of a structure fire at 354 N. Santa Cruz Avenue. The location
was only a couple of blocks from County Fire's Station 83, “Los Gatos Station”. So close that the crew
later stated they could smell smoke as they left the station.
Upon
arrival, they reported flames visible inside structure. The fire was in the attic
of "Double D’s Sports Grille", a popular sports bar and restaurant. Within
minutes, a full first alarm was filled out and a 2nd alarm was requested by the Incident Commander, bringing additional County fire crews to the scene.
John
Whiteside, who was monitoring the radio at home, heard the initial dispatch. He
anticipated a Fire Support Unit request and was preparing to respond.
At 12:17 A.M., Fire Associates was paged to respond an FSU to the scene, and John responded with Fire Support Unit 3 from San Jose Station 35 -- about 8 miles from the
fire. As John was en route, the IC called a 3rd alarm, which
brought a mutual aid structure response from San Jose.
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| Photo By John Whiteside |
Upon arrival,
John was met by FASCV member Mike Garcia and guest Walter Huber. After helping
set up Rehab next to the on-scene ambulance crew, Mike went to locate
and purchase some ever-popular donuts. Portable benches, Gatorade, water,
CLIF bars, lighting, and hot coffee in the cool early morning air, were
provided.
The
extinguishment efforts were difficult as there were 3 different roofs
atop the building. The stubborn fire just kept advancing through the attic
and small pockets of fire kept appearing when hoses were shut down. The
fire was declared under control about 2 hours after first-arrival. Crews remained through
the night and into the next day. Fortunately, firefighters managed to save many treasured
sports memorabilia items that were on display in the restaurant.
Fire Associates personnel were released at 3:45 A.M.
- John's photos from the fire can be viewed at: Double-D Fire
- A San Jose Mercury News story can be read at: Los Gatos Fire
-- Report submitted by John Whiteside
