Sunnyvale Refuse Fire Brings Multi-Alarm Response

  
Date and Time:  08-18-2013, 0400 hours
Agency:  Sunnyvale
Incident Address:  301 Carl Road, Sunnyvale
Type:  Second alarm
  
Details:  Fire in a large refuse consolidation facility (Sunnyvale SMART Station).
  
Agency Responders:
SNY: E-1, 4, 40, 5, 6, 60; R-2; Batt. 1 (Rushmeyer - IC)
  
FASCV Responding Units:  FSU-1. Arrived: 0435, released: 0630 hours.
FASCV Responders:  Ron Green, Jerry Haag, Len Williams (driver) and Dan Wong.
  
-- Report submitted by Jerry Haag

National Night Out - “America’s Night Out Against Crime!”

Photo By Bruce Dembecki

Photo By Bruce Dembecki

 
Tuesday, August 6th, was National Night Out - “America’s Night Out Against Crime”! To highlight the event, the San Jose Fire Department held a special Open House at Fire Station 6 in Willow Glen. The Open House offered members of the public a chance to meet their firefighters and get an up-close look at the fire engines. The BBQ was running overtime as hundreds of residents were fed by San Jose's firefighters. Meanwhile, fire station and fire engine tours were popular.
    
In addition to the station's "local" regulars, Engine 6 and Fire Support Unit 2, other fire units on display included Med 30, Truck 30 and one of the San Jose Squads. Also joining in the evening's get-together were several representatives from the San Jose Police Dept. In addition to this wide range of equipment for residents to learn about, the event was well attended by San Jose Fire Department's firefighters and administrative ranks. Fire Chief Willie McDonald was on hand - during his last week as San Jose's Fire Chief. Also attending were an Assistant Chief, some Deputy Chiefs ,and a whole squad of Battalion Chiefs (or is a group of Battalion Chiefs called a "gaggle"? ...maybe a "Battalion"?).
    


Photo By BC Steve Alvarado

The public enjoyed their visit to the fire station and the entertainment put on by SJFD and SJPD. To go with the hot dogs and baked beans (flying off the BBQ) and the equipment tours, guests were spotted swinging away at a Pinata, watching a rather fine video presentation, and talking with Fire Associates' volunteer Bruce Dembecki about our group. Later in the evening Truck 30 came by and showed off San Jose's newest piece of fire apparatus - the new Pierce aerial tiller. The Pierce "stick" was put up into the night sky and the lights on the tip made the whole area seem like daylight.    
  
Several hundred people came through the doors of Fire Station 6 on a fine Tuesday evening, and Fire Associates was happy to have been able to participate.
    

-- Report submitted by Bruce Dembecki

SJFD Firefighters Tackle Challenging Storage Unit Blaze

   

Photo By Craig Allyn Rose

Tuesday morning, Aug. 6 at 06:26 A.M., San Jose Fire started receiving reports of a structure fire in the area of Interstate 280 and Hwy. 101. Additional callers placed the fire at the Public Storage facility at 925 Felipe Ave., while another caller gave yet another address behind Felipe Ave. on Olinder Ct.
  
Full first responses were dispatched to both the Public Storage location and the possible 912 Olinder Ct. address. Fire units arriving at Public Storage immediately requested a second alarm to deal with flames shooting out of two stories of the building. Olinder Ct. units went to work protecting the exposures on their side of the Public Storage building.
   
Ultimately, the Olinder Ct. units were added to the Public Storage incident, putting more than 3 alarms of equipment and manpower at the disposal of the Felipe IC.



Photo Provided By SJFD Deputy Chief Juan Diaz

As is often the case with Storage building fires, heavy fuel loads and the varied nature of the things being stored in different units, present fire crews with many challenges. One of those added challenges was dealing with the extremely tight access space in the driveways between rows of units. Storage units suffered extensive damage on both floors of the Public Storage facility.

    

At approximately 7:10 A.M., Fire Associates was requested and Bruce Dembecki responded to the scene with Fire Support Unit 2. After arriving a little before 7:30 A.M., Bruce was joined on scene by FASCV member Dan Wong.

  

FSU-2 set up Rehab operations offering cold drinks, coffee and Cliff bars to crews dealing with their early morning start, while Med 30 and Rural Metro EMS crews went through the formal rehab process for fire crews.

   

By 10:00 A.M., many crews had been released and those remaining had their fresh A-shift crews in place, having replaced their B-shift counterparts on scene. Fire Associates was released from the scene and Support Unit 2 headed back home to SJFD Fire Station 6.

  

The best news being that the fire was under control and there were no injuries.

• An nbcbayarea.com news story, with video report, can be seen at:  Storage Unit Fire
      
• A San Jose Mercury News story can be read at:  Firefighters Extinguish Blaze
   
• Bruce Dembecki's photos can bee seen at:  Storage Unit Fire

-- Report submitted by Bruce Dembecki



FASCV Responds to Multiple-Alarm Refuse Transfer Station Fire In Morgan Hill

Photo from Morgan Hill Chief Jamie Norton

Photo Provided By San Jose Deputy Chief, Juan Diaz

On August 2, at 7:12 P.M., Morgan Hill Cal Fire dispatched equipment to a blaze at 10470 Llagas Avenue, with a cross street of East Middle Avenue. The site was a large refuse transfer station and the contents were blazing! Fire Associates received a page at 8:13 P.M. for rehab support and John Whiteside responded to San Jose Station 35 to drive Fire Support Unit 3 to the fire, about 25 miles away.
  
Located south of, and just outside, the Morgan Hill city limits, this site is in the response area of the South Santa Clara County Fire District, staffed by Cal Fire. First-arriving units laid a large-diameter supply line almost 1,000 feet to reach the fire. This was later supplemented with 4 water tenders shuttling water from several miles away. Lots of foam was expended to penetrate the piles of refuse, which had been moved outside by tractors.

  

FSU-3 arrived on scene at 9:09 P.M. and began to set up Rehab. Later, FASCV member Dan Wong arrived from Mountain View to assist. Firefighters enjoyed our portable benches, lemonade, coffee, water, Gatorade, blueberry and CLIF bars, and area lighting.

 

South County equipment was aided by fire units from Gilroy, San Jose, Cal Fire and Morgan Hill. Based on the amount of equipment (10 engines, 4 water tenders, 1 ladder truck and many chief officers and support personnel), it was deemed to be equal to a 3rd-alarm response. San Jose Fire also provided station coverage with additional units. Fire units remained on scene most of the night.
 
John was released at 12:59 A.M. (August 3) and arrived back at Station 35 at 1:25 A.M.

• A San Jose Mercury News story can be read at:  Refuse Fire
     
• Additional photos from Jamie Norton are at:  Morgan Hill Trash Fire

-- Report submitted by John Whiteside

Apartment Units Hit by 2-Alarm Fire In Palo Alto

     

Photo By Sue Dremann Published at Palo Alto Online

Date and Time: 07-29-2013, 1013 hours
Agency:  Palo Alto Fire
Incident Address: 420 James Road, Palo Alto
Type: Second alarm. Quickly reduced
   
Agency Responders:
PAF: E-2, 4, 5, 6; T-6; R-2; Medic-2; Batt-6 (Woodard-IC)
MTV: Batt-18.
 
Details: Building was a two-story, multi-family unit over a garage. Fire was in a first-floor apartment and was blowing out a window and auto-exposing a second-floor window and eaves above upon arrival of first unit. Very quick fire attack limited significant fire damage to the unit of origin.
   
FASCV Responding Unit: FSU-4. Arrived: 1040, released: 1150 hours.
FASCV Responders: Larry Carr (driver), Bob Gundrum, Jerry Haag and Dan Wong

• A news story from Palo Alto Online can be read at:  Apartment Fire

-- Report submitted by Jerry Haag

FASCV Summoned to 2-Alarm Fire at Sunnyvale Liquor Store

  

Photo By David Thompson, SNY Fire

Date and Time:  07-20-2013, 1457 hours
Agency:  Sunnyvale
Incident Address:  490 N. Mathilda Ave., Sunnyvale
Type:  Second alarm

Details:  Prestige Wines and Liquors store in Sunnyvale Square Shopping Center under exterior remodel. Business was open during construction. Fire apparently started in wall between Fish and Chips restaurant and liquor store, spreading quickly into the ceiling void.  Lucky Grocery store (adjacent to liquor store) was evacuated, and allowed to reopen after several hours.

Agency Responders:
SNY: E-1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 60; T-1, 2; R-21; XSC Medic 23; Batt. 3 (Moretto - IC)
SNC: Station coverage
MTV: Station coverage 

FASCV Responding Units: FSU-1. Arrived: 1515, released: 1800 hours.
FASCV Responders:  Ron Green, Bob Gundrum (driver), Jerry Haag, Paula Holcomb, Len Williams, Dan Wong and Mike Garcia (guest)

• An nbcbayarea.com news story with video can be viewed at:  Liquor Store Fire

-- Report submitted by Jerry Haag and Bob Gundrum

Two Homes Burn In 3-Alarm Fire on San Jose's East Side

  

Photo Provided By Neighbor to Juan Diaz

At approximately 1900 hours on Friday evening, July 19, the San Jose Fire Department dispatched a 3-alarm structure assignment to the 3100 block of Linkshead Court, off of Stevens Lane, in east San Jose. A house fire that apparently began outside the garage of one house, had quickly spread to an adjacent home. Fueled by a natural gas meter problem, the blaze spread to a wood fence and then ignited the adjacent house -- both single-story structures. It was not long before the fire then spread into the attics of both buildings.
    
When SJFD paged Fire Associates, Don Gilbert and John Whiteside, with a slight delay as they were finishing dinner, met at Station 6 and responded in Fire Support Unit 2. They were joined on scene by FASCV members George Hoyt, Jerry Haag and Dan Wong. Cool drinks, CLIF bars and Blueberry bars were provided and later coffee was brewed at the request of several firefighters. During the dinner-time fire, Dan and George were tasked to pick up 22 burritos for fire personnel.

Just before breaking down the rehab setup, former FASCV president John Whitaker, and his wife Liz, arrived and assisted in loading up equipment back on FSU-2. They had been out of the area for the evening and stopped by the location on their return home. FSU-2 was back in quarters by 2230 hours.

• A San Jose Mercury News story can be viewed at:  Two Homes Burn
     
• Photos posted by SJFD Deputy Chief Juan Diaz can be viewed at:  Linkshead Fire

-- Report submitted by John Whiteside

FASCV Responds To Third Call for Service in 36 Hours

   

Photo By John Whitaker

As Sunday morning became Sunday afternoon, Fire Associates' volunteer efforts moved from the rural site of the Casa Loma Road fire, to a new brush fire on the hills above Almaden Lake. This fire had much more potential to damage adjacent condo and apartment complexes!
   
FASCV member John Whitaker had just finished restocking ice and drinks for Fire Support Units 2 and 3 when the emergency radios crackled with the news of this new fire. He was already at SJFD Station 35, so he decided to wait around just in case there was a call for rehab assistance.
   
Shortly before 4:30 P.M. the fire escalated to a Tier 2 effort, and John proactively decided to contact Dispatch to see if FASCV could be of help. The reply was "Yes", and John quickly responded in an already-stocked FSU-3. On the way to the scene, he stopped to pick up John Whiteside at his home and proceeded to the end of Miracle Mountain Drive, where the majority of the firefighting effort was concentrated. Once on scene, they were met by FASCV members Randy Whiteside (who lives less than a block away from the fire), George Hoyt and Dan Wong.
    
As is often the case in vegetation fires, although the equipment was located at the Command Center, the fire crews were a long distance away and up a steep hillside. In other words, there wasn't much FASCV could do but provide drinks that were then transported up to the firefighters by SJFD personnel. However, because of the glut of fire equipment along the narrow street, FASCV members were able to lend assistance to the movement of equipment and, in one case, helping one firefighter refill Water Tender 13 at a nearby hydrant.
    
Fortunately, the fire reached a natural firebreak at the top and bottom of the hillside, and with the help of a copter and engine crews from Cal Fire, the blaze was stopped without spreading too far. As some fire crews were being released at approximately 6:30 P.M., FASCV was also released from the scene -- ending a long two days.

• John Whitaker's photos can be viewed at:  Almaden Lake Hillside

-- Report submitted by John Whitaker

FASCV Members Support Day Two of the Casa Loma Fire Overhaul Effort

  

Photo By John Whitaker

For Fire Associates members, Sunday, July 14, began a lot like the previous day. The San Jose Fire Department again requested our services at the Casa Loma fire scene. The overhaul effort was extending into its second day, and John Whiteside and Randy Whiteside responded to the 9:07 A.M. call in Fire Support Unit 3.
   
FASCV member John Whitaker offered to meet them at SJFD Station 35 and lead the way in to the remote fire scene in his personal vehicle. It had been advantageous the day before to have an extra vehicle at the site in order to make any necessary meal runs.
    
After arriving shortly after 10:30 A.M., rehab was again set up in a shady location and preparations were made to serve firefighters as they came down off the hill after a morning of hard work. A meal run was made at 11:30 A.M. for 35 sandwiches and chips.
    
Good progress was made by the morning rotation crews and it was determined that no other effort would be required in the afternoon. Firefighters were returned to service at approximately 1:30 P.M. and Fire Associates was released shortly thereafter.
    
It should be noted that, over the two days, Fire Associates provided over 55 man-hours of support, delivered and served 135 meals and went through approximately 18 cases of water and Gatorade. In addition, 160 lbs. of ice was used to cool all the drinks. In the end, this was one of the longest FASCV support operations in recent memory.

• John's photos from Day Two can be viewed at:  Casa Loma Overhaul

-- Report submitted by John Whitaker

San Jose Fire Crews Tackle Major Overhaul Effort

   

Photo By John Whitaker

At 7:35 A.M. on Saturday, July 13, most people were probably anticipating the start of a relaxing weekend. Not the Fire Associates. It was at that early hour when the San Jose Fire Department requested our support at a fire that had burned on the previous day.
     
On Friday, July 12, just past 1300 hours, the Morgan Hill Cal Fire Santa Clara Unit Emergency Command Center (ECC) received calls of a brush fire on Casa Loma Road, west of Uvas/McKean Road. This area is west of Morgan Hill and southwest of San Jose, in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains.
   
A wildland dispatch was initiated resulting in 1 air attack, 4 air tankers, 2 copters, 2 dozers, several hand crews, and eventually more than 20 engines and water tenders -- some from San Jose and local volunteer departments. First units on scene, over 2 miles in on Casa Loma Rd., reported several acres were burning, going up a steep hill, with a potential of 500 acres and some structures threatened. Quick work by the aerial units stopped the head of the fire which was later mapped at 30 acres (downgraded from the originally estimated 55 acres).
   
Volunteer in Fire Prevention (VIP) member John Whiteside, also a Fire Associates member/responder, was on duty in the ECC. Hours later he was assigned to arrange for 275 meals to be obtained and delivered to the fire scene. John ordered the food, then contacted three VIPs to respond, pick up and deliver the food before sundown, using two Cal Fire pickups. Many of the ground units were released later that night.
   
As the firefighting efforts continued, it was determined to be entirely within San Jose city limits. Although located considerably south of the Almaden Valley, the fire had actually burned an area of the Rancho Canada del Oro Open Space Preserve that was within the city limits. That made the fire the responsibility of the San Jose Fire Department and required the efforts of firefighters who were more used to structure fires than hiking up steep slopes covered with grass, oak trees and poison oak.
     
When day two of the effort dawned, it was determined that the fire would require a considerable amount of overhaul on a very hot, summer day. So, SJFD requested the assistance of Fire Associates. Don Gilbert and John Whitaker responded to the call in Fire Support Unit 2. They were joined on scene by FASCV members George Hoyt and Dan Wong.
   
The initial firefighting was accomplished by a ground and air assault from Cal Fire crews. But, once the actual responsibility was discovered, the operation was turned over to the SJFD command staff. However, for this overhaul effort, Cal Fire did provide two inmate hand crews from the Ben Lomond Conservation Camp and some of the overhead support.
   

Photo By John Whitaker

On this Saturday morning, crews from 5 SJFD engine companies and a water tender were tasked to climb the hills and extinguish any smoldering trees or stumps. The concern was that winds later in the day may stir up embers and the fire could escape the containment lines. As the day progressed, and temperatures reached near 90 degrees, crews were rotated out and replaced by fresh firefighters at approximately 5-hour intervals.
   
Fire Associates' responsibility was to staff the rehab area and provide ice cold water, Gatorade and high-nutrition bars. A shady area was found in which to set up tables, benches and camp chairs. FASCV responsibilities also included picking up and serving approximately 70 sandwiches and chips for lunch and another pick-up run of 30 sandwiches and chips for the dinner hour.
   
After the evening rotation of crews arrived and were fed, Fire Associates was released at 7:50 P.M. It was a long 12 hours of service, but one that was greatly appreciated by some very weary fire crews.

• John Whitaker's photos can be viewed at:  Casa Loma Fire
      
• A San Jose Mercury News story can be read at:  Crews Battle Fire

-- John Whiteside and John Whitaker contributed to this report