Before rushing off to contain the Pacheco Fire between Gilroy
and Los Banos Saturday afternoon, CalFire crews fought quickly to
extinguish three small blazes north of Mount Madonna Park west of
Gilroy.
Before rushing off to contain the Pacheco Fire between Gilroy and Los Banos Saturday afternoon, CalFire crews fought quickly to extinguish three small blazes north of Mount Madonna Park west of Gilroy.
About 12:53 p.m. Saturday, firefighters responded to three fires near Summit Road: a small, “plate-size” fire, a two-acre fire and a five-acre blaze. Investigators are still looking into the fires’ causes, CalFire Fire Prevention Specialist and Information Officer Chris Morgan said Monday.
Vivian Yothers was camping in the park south of the fires with a local Boy Scout troop Saturday and said emergency personnel dropped by their campsite to let them know the fires were under control and that a suspected arsonist remained at large.
“Cal Fire was very quick to put them out, but news to the campers was sporadic. We … became quite alarmed when the road was closed off to other scouts coming into the park and (wondered) whether we should leave,” Yothers wrote in an e-mail.
CalFire officials are unsure who called the fire in, but Morgan stressed that investigators “look at all possibilities,” from power line shortages and sparking equipment to arson.
“We were on scene pretty quick, and there was already a lot of equipment up there,” Morgan said. “That fire was winding down when the Pacheco one started, and we were able to move.”
Firefighters had the small fires contained by Saturday evening and spent Sunday mopping up its remnants, Morgan said. The fires burned brush and damaged redwood trees but crews stopped the flames before they reached nearby structures, Morgan said. No one was injured by the fires.
