Firefighters quickly contained a blaze likely sparked by downed
power lines Thursday afternoon that partially consumed one
greenhouse and nearby vegetation on Fisher Avenue off of Railroad
Avenue.
Morgan Hill – Firefighters quickly contained a blaze likely sparked by downed power lines Thursday afternoon that partially consumed one greenhouse and nearby vegetation on Fisher Avenue off of Railroad Avenue.
CalFire Battalion Chief Darryl Wolf said he was driving by on Tennant Avenue at U.S. 101 when he spotted the approximately one-acre fire that threatened a row of abandoned greenhouses.
He was on his way to lunch in his fire vehicle, so he changed direction and headed for the 12:45pm fire.
“Thanks to a quick response and assistance from South County Fire and a San Jose engine company and water company, along with bucket drops from our copter, it was quickly under control,” he said.
The fire helicopter made several trips to fill its bucket in the canal at the Ramada Inn on Condit Road.
The greenhouse and surrounding vegetation, including several pine trees, burned rapidly, and Wolf said four illegal apartments inside the nearby greenhouses were threatened but saved as the fire did not spread.
Fortunately, he added, no one was inside the illegal apartments and no one was injured.
Estimates of the damage to the property were unavailable by presstime.
In July, at least 12 greenhouses and other outbuildings were destroyed by a major blaze in San Martin. The greenhouses were covered in fiberglass.
“We’re lucky those greenhouses were covered in plastic and not fiberglass,” Wolf said referring to the summer blaze.
