Thursday night, Sept. 8, at 11:50 P.M., Morgan Hill Cal Fire, which also staffs the Morgan Hill City Fire Dept and the South Santa Clara County Fire District, dispatched units to a house fire at 14840 Columbet Avenue in San Martin, cross street of East Middle Avenue, in the fire district. Arriving units reported fire from the rear of the structure, 50% involved. All occupants were out, but the structure was the home of an organization that shelters rescued dogs. Almost a dozen dogs were lost, but 4 were saved with resuscitation.
Fire units from the District, Cal Fire, Morgan Hill City, and Gilroy responded to the scene while San Jose provided 2 engines to cover open stations. Eight (8) engines, 2 water tenders, 1 ladder truck and 2 Battalion Chiefs were involved in the fire attack.
At 12:25 A.M. Friday morning Fire Associates was paged for support. John Whiteside and new member Walter Huber met at San Jose Station 35 to take Fire Support Unit #3, while Bill Roth went to the scene. Lighting, bench seating, water, Clif bars, Gatorade, donuts, and coffee were provided and much appreciated by the fire fighters.
FSU-3 was released at 04:03 A.M.
— Report submitted by John Whiteside
