Gilroy
– A nearby home improvement project is believed to be the cause
of a late afternoon blaze that ignited along the west hills of
Gilroy Monday, coming close to the home of resident John
Cooper.
Gilroy – A nearby home improvement project is believed to be the cause of a late afternoon blaze that ignited along the west hills of Gilroy Monday, coming close to the home of resident John Cooper.
While firefighters are still investigating the cause of the fire, Division Chief Clay Bentson said the combination of the weather, overgrown brush and a nearby welding and grinding operation may have ignited the spark that spread to the property of several homes.
“One of the homeowners was doing a terracing job, installing metal handrails,” Bentson said. “The biggest contributing factor was the weather. It was hot, there was a pretty good breeze blowing and humidity was low.”
John Cooper was driving home from work Monday when he noticed smoke billowing from the hills of Welburn Avenue. As he approached the flashing fire engines, he paused.
“Whoa – That’s my home,” he said. “I’ve had better Mondays coming home.”
Landscapers tried to douse the edges of his yard with a garden hose when it went up in flames, he said.
The Gilroy Fire Department responded to the call at 5:43pm and because of its location in a mutual threat zone, called in units from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
Cooper’s home is within the jurisdiction of both GFD and CDF, causing both units to respond. Both GFD’s engines and an emergency response vehicle were on scene.
Because of weather conditions, CDF automatically called a high dispatch consisting of six engines, two tanker aircrafts, one helicopter and a bulldozer.
However, GFD firefighters had contained the fire by about 6:20pm, calling off the helicopter and aircrafts.
“It’s a lot better, them coming and finding out that we don’t need them, than to try and get them here after,” explained Division Chief Phil King.
Neighbors gathered at the bottom of the hill, concerned that the fire would spread to Cooper’s home and surrounding areas.
“The potential was there (for the fire to reach the house),” Bentson said.
Firefighters blocked off an area about 1/2 to 3/4 acres large and by 6:15pm the sky was clear of smoke.
“I keep the grass cut down, in theory, to prevent something like this,” Cooper explained. “But it is what it is. Nobody was in there. I can replace a home – you can’t replace people.”
Bentson offered a few tips to residents to avoid fires while the risk remains high. Temperatures are expected to climb into high 90s by the end of the week with breezes blowing between 10 to 15 miles per hour through Thursday, according to several weather services.
“They shouldn’t be mowing lawns or doing any cutting operations later than 11 in the morning,” Bentson said. “It gets warm and susceptible to fire spread.”
He added that homeowners, especially in hillside areas, should have at least 30 feet around their homes free of brush, and as much as 100 feet is recommended by the CDF if practical. They should clear roofs and rain gutters of leaves and pine needles.
“Just use common sense,” Bentson said. “Don’t dump hot barbecue ashes into the trash can or the yard.”
Staff Writer Melissa Flores contributed to this report.
