A Russian immigrant couple, a high school teacher and a young
family with a 1-year-old daughter were among those displaced by a
fire that burned five residences just north of town.
A Russian couple, a high school teacher and a young family with a 1-year-old daughter were among those displaced by a fire that burned five residences just north of town.
The cause of that fire, which started at 149 Del Monte Lane Monday afternoon and spread to the other four units in the same building, was still undetermined at press time, according to Santa Clara County Fire Dept. Battalion Chief Ron Vega. He said the fire was unintentional, and it started around the fireplace and chimney which runs up through the center of the building.
On Wednesday afternoon, Sergey Anikeev and his wife Marina Zigman were at the residence, which they were renting, trying to salvage what they could, which wasn’t much. Zigman said in Russian, with her husband translating, that the biggest material loss was several designer dresses, some of which cost several thousand dollars each.
The couple has stayed at a motel since the fire forced them out of their house, where they lived for almost a year, Anikeev said. The American Red Cross paid for their first three nights at the motel, and Anikeev said they will likely have to spend a few more nights at the room as they search for a new permanent home.
Zigman, who suffers from osteoporosis and chronic back pains, said in Russian – with Anikeev translating – she has been unable to sleep since the special mattress she slept on was destroyed by water from firefighting efforts.
The couple, who moved to the U.S. nearly eight years ago, also lost Zigman’s medical documents, both their internal Russian passports and photographs, Anikeev said.
In the days prior to the fire, Zigman said she heard knocking sounds upstairs from their single-story unit, and she faintly smelled smoke, Anikeev said. Then on the day of the fire, she was sitting at the computer when she heard “an exploding bottle sound,” her husband said. Then the smell of smoke became more pungent, but Zigman thought someone was burning leaves outside.
The next thing she knew, her neighbor opened the front door and physically pulled her out of the house, which she then realized was burning, Anikeev said.
Anikeev noted that the couple’s neighbors and landlord have been helpful.
Lori Thomas, an English teacher at Oak Grove High School in San Jose, lived in the middle unit that occupied both floors and where most of the damage occurred. The fire left a giant hole in the middle of the building, with black char radiating out to the inner edges of the other four units – two on each side of Thomas’ residence, which she purchased in April 2004.
The building is part of the Del Monte Condo Association, which contains 50 units in 11 structures that wrap around a grass courtyard and a community swimming pool. Only one building burned in the fire.
Thomas cried Wednesday as she described the gift cards and money her students and other teachers at Oak Grove have given her over the last couple of days.
“It’s very touching,” said Thomas, who also praised her neighbors. “People have very big hearts here. If they rebuild it, I’ll come back.”
She saved her two cats, but lost almost everything else she owned. Furthermore, Thomas noted that a housemate had moved into her townhome the day before the fire.
Thomas and other owners of the burned unit are concerned with the financial difficulties they may face with having to continue paying their mortgage as well as rent at a new place at the same time.
Nathan and Nicole Padilla, and their 1-year-old daughter Parker, hope their bank will cut them some slack on their mortgage payments until they hear from the home owners’ association’s insurance company.
The Padillas, who moved in about a year and a half ago, are now staying with Nathan Padilla’s parents.
They also lost most of their expensive possessions. Firefighters were able to save their baby’s clothes before the roof collapsed on the second-story residence, Nathan Padilla said. But a couple of video game systems, computers, an amplifier, an LCD television, drums and sound equipment were lost.
“It was a miracle,” however, that the hallway closet which contained financial documents and wedding pictures did not burn, and those items survived, Padilla said. “The things we lost can be replaced. We feel fortunate that the things that were saved are the things that have memories,” said Padilla, who is president of the townhome complex’s HOA. “We’re thankful for the position we’re in.”
The initial estimate of the damages is about $2.5 million, according to Frank Blenn of Associate Management Solutions, Inc., the company which manages the property. He said that he and other managers have begun the process of working with the complex’s insurance company to determine what damages and items will be covered.
He said AMS will also coordinate rebuilding and repairs. While at least one of the downstairs units appears to have sustained only minor fire damage, smoke and water have made all five residences unlivable, Blenn said.
He noted that anyone who would like to make donations to the fire victims can call AMS’ office at (408) 778-7400.
“It’s sad when this happens in these types of units because it affects so many people,” Blenn said.
No one was injured in the fire. Capt. Debbie Stocksick of the SCCFD noted the Morgan Hill Police Department quickly made sure the building was empty of residents when they arrived.
Police, firefighters and other emergency personnel from a variety of different agencies swarmed the scene within minutes after the fire was reported at about 1:15 p.m.
The first crew to respond was commanded by Stocksick, who immediately called for a third alarm. When her crew arrived, Stocksick said smoke and flames were coming from the roof. She said she began attacking the fire aggressively, and firefighters were able to save the building from completely burning as two units on the ground floor escaped the flames.
But the fire continued spreading with the arrival of the first crews, and the roof quickly collapsed, Stocksick said. It was then that firefighters shifted into “defensive” mode, attacking the fire only from the outside and employing an SCCFD ladder truck.
At least nine fire engines plus a ladder truck, close to 50 firefighters and police, and the American Red Cross, responded to the blaze. The streets surrounding the block where the fire occurred were closed all afternoon while the fire continued to smolder and the damage was assessed.
The fire was mostly extinguished and the smoke cleared after about two hours, revealing the charred, roofless frame of the building’s top floor.
West Morgan Hill home totally destroyed by fire
Just days after a fire burned five townhomes in north Morgan Hill, a two-story home in rural west Morgan Hill burned to the ground.
Fire crews responded to the three-alarm blaze at 7:26 a.m. Thursday, according to CalFire battalion chief Ken McGeever. When the first crew arrived the house was fully involved, with 30-foot flames rolling out the front door and windows, McGeever said.
By 9 a.m. the house was “totally destroyed,” and firefighters were on the scene until mid afternoon.
Willie Wilkinson emerged from the burning home at 16500 Oak Glen Road with his hair singed and wearing only one shoe, but was uninjured.
Although Wilkinson, the home’s only occupant, was visibly shaken and said he inhaled some smoke, he refused medical treatment. No other injuries were reported, and Wilkinson saved his dog.
He suspected a malfunction with his electric blanket or an electric heating pad in his bedroom started the fire, which he said started while he was on the phone with his daughter.
“I opened the (bedroom) door and it blew me out,” said Wilkinson. “The black smoke hit me and I got down on the ground.”
He said he lost everything he owns in the fire. He lived in the 1,200-square-foot house, which he rented, for 13 years. For the foreseeable future he plans to live with his daughter, Adrian Wilkinson, who lives close by and grew up in the Oak Glen home.
McGeever agreed the fire appeared to have started in the bedroom, as that area showed the most damage.
Crews from Cal Fire, Santa Clara County Fire Dept., and Gilroy FD responded to the fire, which was still smoldering in the early afternoon.
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