Community

Santa Clara County and Morgan Hill have partnered to provide shelter for dogs, cats and other domestic pets, including horses and other large animals, for Morgan Hill residents.

The Santa Clara Valley Water District is one of several agencies involved in the 2018 Coastal Cleanup Day efforts and is in need of 1,500 volunteers of all ages to help get the job done.

Local elementary school students were able to “shop til they drop” at the Edward “Boss” Prado Foundation’s Fifth Annual Back-to-School Fit For Fall clothing drive and backpack giveaway event Aug. 25.

The circus is coming to town.

A traffic accident on U.S. 101 in Gilroy resulted in the death of a 57-year-old man and injuries to three others in heavy morning commuter traffic on Monday, Aug. 13.The three-vehicle accident occurred at 7:55am on U.S. 101 northbound, just south of the Old Monterey Road exit and the intersection of Highway 25, according to Officer Chris Miceli of the California Highway Patrol. As of Monday evening, authorities had not released the identity of the man who died in the collision.A 2012 Ford van driven by a 33-year-old Castroville man was traveling north on the freeway, just south of Old Monterey Road at an unknown rate of speed, according to police. As the van approached the rear of a 2018 Peterbilt semi-truck, driven by a 59-year-old Salinas man, the van driver apparently failed to notice the slower, larger vehicle ahead.The right front of the Ford van collided with the left rear of the Peterbilt’s trailer, authorities said. The force of this impact caused the van to travel into the adjacent northbound lane. The van then collided with a 2005 Ford Explorer, driven by a 35-year-old Salinas man.When the van struck the semi-truck, the van’s right front passenger suffered fatal injuries, police said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.The driver and another passenger of the Ford van—a 34-year-old Castroville man—were transported to San Jose Regional Hospital with minor injuries. The driver of the semi-truck was transported to the same hospital, also with minor injuries.The driver of the Ford Explorer was not injured, according to police.Neither alcohol or drugs are suspected in the collision, according to authorities.U.S. 101 northbound was closed in both directions for about two hours due to the collision and investigation, backing up traffic in both directions for several miles. The accident also snarled the morning commuter traffic along 156 from as far away as Watsonville to Hollister, and stalled commuter traffic on Highway 25 north of Hollister.Anyone who witnessed the Aug. 13 collision can contact CHP Officer Brandon Dias at (408) 848-2324.

Morgan Hill Police was one of many public safety agencies nationwide that participated in the National Night Out Aug. 7. Also present at the local event, which took place on Depot Street in the city’s downtown, were the Morgan Hill Fire Department, Santa Clara County Fire Department, South County Fire District, CalFire and the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office.

As of Aug. 8, all outdoor burning is banned in the South Bay area, including all of Santa Clara County.The burn ban was announced by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFire). The ban includes all burning in the State Responsibility Areas within Santa Clara, Alameda and Contra Costa counties, plus the western portions of Stanislaus and San Joaquin counties.The restrictions also affect the use of campfires, stoves and smoking materials in these areas. The ban will remain in effect until CalFire announces otherwise.Starting immediately, the following restrictions are in effect:• No open fires, campfires or charcoal fires will be permitted;• Lanterns and portable stoves using gas, jellied petroleum or pressurized liquid fuel and propane or gas fire pits will be permitted;• Visitors to campgrounds must clear all flammable material for 10 feet in all directions from their camp stove, have a shovel available and ensure that a responsible person attends the stove at all times during use;• Smoking is prohibited, except within an enclosed vehicle, building or designated campfire use site, or while stopped in an area at least three feet in diameter that is barren or clear of all flammable material.The burn ban was announced as more than 13,000 firefighters are on the front lines of 12 large wildfires across the state. As of Aug. 9, these fires have burned nearly 667,000 acres and damaged or destroyed more than 2,000 structures, according to CalFire.

The Bay Area Air Quality Management District is extending an air quality advisory through Thursday, August 9, in the Bay Area, including South County and northern San Benito County. Morgan Hill, San Martin, Gilroy and Hollister early Wednesday, Aug.8, began experiencing brown, hazy skies, the smoke impacts from the Mendocino Complex  Fire and other wildfires.Starting Tuesday afternoon and continuing into Wednesday, smoke impacts became more widespread and at ground level at times. Due to active wildfires and changing wind patterns, air quality throughout the Bay Area is likely to be impacted through most of the week.A regional Spare the Air Alert was called, because air quality exceeded federal standards. The Environmental Protection Agency is monitoring air quality every 20 minutes. Updates are posted at https://airnow.gov.If the smell of smoke is present, it is important that Bay Area residents protect their health by avoiding exposure. If possible, stay inside with windows and doors closed until smoke levels subside. Set air-conditioning units and car vent systems to re-circulate to prevent outside air from moving inside.Smoke can irritate the eyes and airways, causing coughing, a scratchy throat and irritated sinuses. Elevated particulate matter in the air can trigger wheezing in those who suffer from asthma, emphysema or COPD.Elderly persons, children and individuals with respiratory illnesses are particularly susceptible to elevated air pollution levels and should take extra precautions to avoid exposure.

Jayme and Jeremy Simmons were just about to head out on the Rubicon Trail, a 22-mile route through the Sierra Nevada, when they got the message from Jayme’s mom.They had made the trip annually for the last 13 years and were about to be out of cell range for the next four days; this would be the last call they made before they hit the trail.“She would have never usually called me at the start of my trip,” said Jayme, 41. “When I called her back she was hysterical, crying, ‘Your house is on fire and I cannot save your animals, and I think they’re all going to die. I got your dogs, but I think the livestock isn’t going to make it. I don’t think anything is going to make it.’”   The blaze, the Simmons would soon learn, started as a vegetation fire at 4:15pm July 25 in the 12100 block of Church Avenue. Before being contained by a firefighting blitz of ground crews and a helicopter, it would burn 20 acres and multiple homes, displacing 21 residents in the area, CalFire would later report.Unsure what they’d find when they arrived home, the Simmons headed back to San Martin—an agonizing four-hour-drive.The Simmons arrived to their home on Lena Avenue after nightfall.“You could see flames,” said Jeremy, 41. “We were able to walk up as close as the neighbor’s fence over here, and we could see low embers and little flames. And, we could see the freeway behind the house, which you shouldn't be able to see the freeway because the barn should be there.”The main house on nearly 2.5 acres and owned by Jeremy’s parents Judy and Chuck Simmons was mostly unharmed by the fire, but the barn with a loft—which Jeremy and Jayme had converted into an apartment—along with Chuck’s workshop and the original cottage from the early 1900s, had been leveled.Fifteen years earlier the Simmons had moved in with Jeremy’s parents. The young couple had lived in Murphys, and his parents had a home in nearby Arnold. Both couples sold their land and headed for the South Valley, where Jayme and Jeremy searched for a place to buy.They didn’t find what they were looking for and stayed on the Lena Avenue property, where they taught themselves to farm and decided to return to school.Jayme, now a ranger at Pinnacles National Monument, studied environmental geology while Jeremy earned his degree in environmental studies with economics and now does trail repairs and finish carpentry at Pinnacles.Having previously been evacuated from their mountain home in Murphys, the Simmons thought they’d be safe from the same fire risks in South Valley. They didn’t expect to lose everything.When they arrived, they couldn’t access the property.“Last night we put up the hammock stretched between the Jeep and one of the trees out there.” said Jeremy.Jayme said they just wanted to be sure the animals were OK and see if anything could be done to help them.“All the chickens are dead,” said Jayme. They had lost about two dozen chickens—mostly rare breeds like silkies and small millefleurs.The Simmons were relieved that their pigs had survived along with the majority of their goats, all Nigerian dwarves."This guy next door came over and saved their lives; he sprayed water on them the whole time," said Jayme pointing to their neighbors, the Bettencourts.“You can’t possibly get them to go where they don’t want to go,” said Jayme’s mom Gayle Ng of the seven pigs—a mixture of Yorkshires, Hampshires and Glaucester Old Spots—each weighing hundreds of pounds.“They had the fence ripped up and were trying to get out,” said Jayme.Touring the aftermath, the Simmons walked through the ashes.“That’s our storage unit; that had everything in it,” said Jayme. “All my pictures from my childhood. All of that.”Jamye was still searching the ashes for a ring and a broach that were given to her when her grandmother passed away.She did find a piece of her baby blanket, which she hopes her mom will make into a quilt—a replacement for the one she had just received from her mom.“She's drawn me a lot of pictures,” Jeremy said as his eyes welled up. “Just for a lot of years now on anniversaries and birthdays, she just would draw me some memorable part of our trip. It just made me realize how fleeting my memory is.”“Here’s my chop saw,” said Jeremy, picking up a melted circular blade—the only recognizable part that remained of the tool.“My ’77 J20,” said Jeremy pointing to a green J20 Jeep Gladiator, they fondly called “The Beast.”“You need a truck on a farm,” said Ng.But the Simmons only had their Jeep, with the top and sides that were left behind destroyed. They lost several cars and motorcycles, including both of their daily drivers, which they needed to get to work on separate sides of the Pinnacles.In addition to the vehicles and the chickens, their barn, the Simmons lost a breeding buck, named Jack.Also lost on their property were several outbuildings including their storage, a welding shop and the original cottage.“They lost everything,” Jayme said about the welders. “All their vehicles are here.”Without the welders, Jeremy’s parents may not make their mortgage payments.Mireya Mora, 31, had about 10 minutes to get out of the cottage, which she and Felipe Zamora, 30, had been renting for about a year.Mora had only enough time to grab her dog, her purse and some clothes for the couple.“His mom and his brother came here to help me, but the fire was here already,” said Mora. “Everything is gone: jewelry, money, everything.”The water was still bubbling out of the pipes into the ashes.“She had a couple things like her grandfather’s little wooden box that had been in her family for 200 years,” Zamora said about Mora’s precious family heirloom passed down from generation to generation from her family who had come from a town near Guadalajara.“For now we’ll spend a couple of nights with my mom,” said Zamora. “I didn’t have any renter’s insurance.”The Simmons also were without coverage and were not named in Jeremy’s parents’ policy.“Having studied geology,” Jeremy said, "we were really prepared for an earthquake. It's hard to prepare for fire because everything is gone. All your possessions are up in smoke.”Jayme cautions readers, “Have an exit strategy, a way to contact your loved ones.”The Simmons have been staying with Jayme’s parents and will be looking for housing.Through the devastation, an experience of recovery that is just beginning, Jayme is still grateful “for my life, my husband's life, my family,” she said. “Everybody is OK. My dogs. My goats were saved by a number of people—that helps.”Jeremy is also grateful for the firefighters.“They kept it wet,” he said. “They tried.”To donate to the Simmons relief fund, visit https://bit.ly/2OsKY4a. People who wish to donate a tangible item can visit https://amzn.to/2LVnPJj.