Fast moving fire destroys possessions; man, his dog safe
GILROY
A recreational vehicle in north Gilroy burned Wednesday morning, leaving its owner homeless with no apparent help on the way.
It was just after sunrise and Manfred Geister had his recreational vehicle all set – the back cleaned to a shine, his belongings packed up – for the drive to Salinas where he was going to meet a friend. Moley, a 12-year-old black and white sheepdog mix, sat shotgun as Geister pulled out of the driveway of 9435 Monterey Road for the hour-long journey.
But the pair made it just 50 yards when smoke and flames started pouring out from under the hood, Geister said. He pulled back onto the property, grabbed a fire extinguisher and started dousing the engine, but it had little effect. He ran inside a house on the property and grabbed a second fire extinguisher, but the flames continued to spread.
“By the time I was done (with the engine), the whole thing was burning good,” Geister said as he kicked stones at the wreckage that remained.
Thinking the cause lost, Geister tossed the fire extinguisher and grabbed the arthritic Moley – who was trying to bury herself under the passenger seat – and watched the flames engulf the vehicle. The fire department showed up a few minutes later and put the blaze out.
Suzan Maharzan, a clerk at Produce Land Market a short distance away at the corner of Monterey Road and Farrell Avenue, saw the flames behind a two-story billboard. A thick, black column of smoke rose above that, he said.
“It smelled like a rubber tire burning out,” he said.
Geister sifted through a pile of charred belongings – a vacuum cleaner, a silver can, cushions – picking out whatever he could salvage.
Inside was “my phone, wallet, every damn thing,” said the middle-aged man who recently went through a divorce. The vehicle was “the only thing I had left. Merry Christmas.”
Despite his loss, Geister was optimistic at times.
“It could have been worse,” he said, glancing at Morey, who was lying in the shade. “I’ll get a break. Something always comes up.”
