Smoke and water damage make home uninhabitable
By Lori Stuenkel
Gilroy – Eight adults and one child were displaced Monday night after fire and smoke damaged their 7241 Dowdy St. home.
A neighbor, seeing smoke, made the initial 911 call to report the fire about 6:11pm, Gilroy Fire Department Division Chief Clay Bentson said.
As an engine left the Chestnut Station, firefighters could see the smoke from the fire about eight blocks west, and called for a second alarm right away, Bentson said.
“On arrival, they had really heavy smoke showing,” he said.
The blaze started in a makeshift laundry room located in the garage of the house.
Two GFD engines, two South Santa Clara County/California Department of Forestry engines, and the GFD rescue vehicle responded, and the fire was under control within a half-hour, Bentson said.
“The fire was pretty much confined to the garage area, and did a lot of damage to the garage, but there was a lot of heavy smoke throughout the house, which made it uninhabitable,” Bentson said.
The American Red Cross responded to help the displaced residents find emergency shelter. No damage estimate was available at press time.
No injuries were reported. The fire is considered accidental,
