Firefighters battled a wild land blaze that started near the ninth hole of the Eagle Ridge Golf Course Wednesday afternoon, raced up a oak studded hillside and ultimately burned 7 acres in the east Gilroy foothills, according to Gilroy Fire Department Division Chief Mary Gutierrez.
The fire was first reported at 12:18 p.m. on the 2900 block of Club Drive by golf course management, when employees called 9-1-1 about a 1-acre grass fire, Gutierrez said.
It was fully contained in a matter by 2:24 p.m. after local and Cal Fire firefighters climbed up steep terrain dragging hose lines into the hills to battle it on foot and Cal Fire aircraft, a helicopter and air tanker, dropped water and fire retardant chemicals on the blaze near the city’s gated, Eagle Ridge housing development.
No homes were threatened or damaged and no injuries were reported, Gutierrez said.
“It’s about getting the number of personnel we need based on the size of the incident and early activation of those resources so we have a good firefighting force on scene,” the fire division chief told the Dispatch.
At the peak of the effort, 120 firefighters were on scene and many remained into the late afternoon extinguishing “hot spots” to ensure the fire did not reignite, Gutierrez said.
The cause of the fire was not known as of press time Wednesday, but a city investigator hoped to have an answer by Thursday morning, she added.
At the scene, the fire appeared to have stared beside a paved golf cart path, and course personnel wondered aloud if a cigarette might have started it.
Smoke was visible across town as the fire burned. The smoke led to numerous calls to first responders, including one from a driver on U.S. 101 who saw smoke looming over the foothills and was concerned a structure caught fire, according to the California Highway Patrol’s online incident log. But it was the call from golf course management that was critical in setting the scene for full containment, Gutierrez said.
“Early activation is crucial in getting the appropriate number of resources,” she added. “You’ve got to get those resources up the hill to the head of the fire…Those airdrops of fire retardant and water are crucial to our operation.”
Relatively low temperatures, hovering in the mid-to-high 70s coupled with moderate humidity and low winds helped prevent the fire from spreading as golfers and residents assembled nearby to watch and take photos. Play was halted on some holes as firefighters used parts of the course and cart paths to stage and deploy firefighters and equipment.
Cal Fire declared on May 21 the official start of wildfire season, which set the stage for increased resources across the state and South County, resources fire officials say were critical in subduing the Wednesday blaze.
“We worked together, cooperatively, to use their (Cal Fire’s) expertise of fighting grass fire with our knowledge of our city and our terrain,” Gutierrez said.
