A blaze quickly destroyed several outbuildings on a property
north of Morgan Hill on June 20, but the property owner was
grateful fire crews saved her home as flames roared less than 30
feet away.
Morgan Hill – A blaze quickly destroyed several outbuildings on a property north of Morgan Hill on June 20, but the property owner was grateful fire crews saved her home as flames roared less than 30 feet away.
“I’m so glad they kept it from burning,” said Frances Fernandez, who has lived in the home at 201 San Bruno Ave., for 51 years. “We have lost a lot of personal things that were stored in the shed.”
Fernandez said she and her son lost a tractor and her grandsons’ motorcycles. Her home, however, was saved when six fire crews moved quickly to fight the flames advancing toward the residence.
Two Santa Clara County Fire Department engines, four California Department of Forestry engines plus one water tanker were on scene to fight the fire.
No one was injured in the blaze.
SCCFD Chief Wally Finck said until the CDF crews arrived with the water tanker, firefighters just concentrated on protecting the home after arriving shortly after the 11:15am call.
“When we arrived, the other buildings were already pretty engaged,” he said. “We had to worry about electricity, about possible explosives, but we really didn’t want the house involved. So we focused our efforts on keeping it at bay. Our plan worked and we protected it.”
Fernandez said she had “no idea” what might have started the fire.
“A woman just came up and knocked at our door and said that our shed was on fire,” she said. “Right away, I went directly to the phone and called 911, and they got here very quickly. We moved our cars down to the street and stayed out of the house.”
The fire apparently started in a shed to the rear of the house which Fernandez said was mainly used for storage. The fire then spread to a nearby garage containing the tractor, tools and other items, then to a small barn containing various items but no animals.
Finck said one of the buildings contained fertilizer and he was concerned about the smoke’s toxicity.
Located between Hale Avenue and Monterey Highway, Fernandez’s property sits in an open area surrounded by fields, farms and greenhouses. Columns of first brown smoke, then black when the tractor started to burn, billowing up from the flames could be seen from both roads and from Highway 101.
Crews were still on the scene hours after the blaze, “mopping up,” making sure the smoldering ruins did not spark up again in the wind, which was fortunately not strong.
The cause of the fire and the amount in damages were not available by presstime. An investigation is underway.
