Morgan Hill – The timing of a fire in a field of brush Wednesday afternoon and quick action by firefighters kept what could have been a major problem to a minimum, according to California Department of Forestry Battalion Chief Wiley Evans.
“If this had happened maybe a month later, it could have spread more quickly,” he said. “This could have been very serious.”
Quick notification of fire officials by a passing resident of the area also kept the flames from getting out of hand, Evans added.
Just under two acres of a hillside west of Morgan Hill was scorched as fire crews responded and quickly contained the blaze with the help of a reserve air tanker.
Eight engines were originally called to respond to the area on the edge of the Anderson reservoir just below Henry Coe Park, but three were told to turn back as the crews arriving first were able to contain the fire, with an air tanker scooping buckets of water from the reservoir to dump on the area. A fixed-wing small airplane dumped fire retardant “in a V-shaped boundary” of the area, Evans said.
Santa Clara County Fire Department Engine 13 was the first to respond from their station at Hill Road and East Dunne Avenue. CDF-South County Engine 1 responded, as well as three CDF engines.
The cause of the fire, according to Evans, was a weed-eater.
“It’s common for sparks from yard equipment such as lawnmowers and weed-eaters to spark a fire when the grass is very dry, but this fellow had been using the weed-eater and laid it down on the grass,” … said. “It was hot, and the grass and brush just caught.”
The fire started just after 1pm Wednesday, but was contained within half an hour.
Crews were on the scene for a couple of hours longer putting out hot spots and mopping up, Evans said.
As the scorched area smoked gently, flames extinguished, the air tanker – a reserve helicopter – continued to dump giant buckets of reservoir water down onto the area as ground crews spread out still-smoldering piles of brush, branches and coarse grass.
The quick containment of the fire gave the crew of the reserve tanker the opportunity to hone their skills while making the job of the firefighters on the ground a bit easier, Evans said. The pilot of the helicopter was able to land the craft on a small patch of flat land at the site of the fire, hovering just above the ground first so crew members could detach the bucket.
Marilyn Dubil covers education and law enforcement for The Times. Reach her at (408) 779-4106 Ext. 202 or at
md****@mo*************.com.
