A candle in an upstairs bedroom may have started a fire that
damaged two townhomes this morning lit the room afire, the Gomez
family that lives there said.
A candle in an upstairs bedroom may have started a fire that damaged two townhomes this morning lit the room afire, the Gomez family that lives there said.
The Santa Clara County Fire Department responded this morning to the one-alarm fire at a townhome on Hale Avenue.
Felicitas and Jose Gomez lived there for 27 years, their son Jose Gomez said. All three were at the 18216 Hale Ave. home at the time, he said. The two sat in folding chairs in the parking lot as firefighters continued to secure the building.
Gomez was in his upstairs bedroom next to his parents’ room, where the fire started, he said.
“It was cloudy,” he said. “At first I thought it was my vision.”
After further investigation Gomez realized it was a fire and ran downstairs to usher his parents out. Then, he banged on his neighbors’ doors to tell them to get out.
One of those who answered was Jim Stoup, who was staying with his daughter at the townhome next door. Stoup said he was staving off flames with her garden hose when Morgan Hill police arrived first on the scene. Santa Clara County firefighters were there minutes later. They told him to drop the hose and step away.
“I could have been at least holding the fire down,” Stoup said.
At the time, flames shot out the back window, the smoke spewing into the air. Once the bulk of the fire was out, flames still licked the ceiling and smoldered under the shingles. Firefighters took axes and a chainsaw to the roof to contain the blaze. Santa Clara County Fire Chief Brad Darbro said the attic space may have brought damage to the unit next door as well.
The American Red Cross was making sleeping arrangements with both families.
The fire department got the call at 9:22 a.m. and responded four minutes later, Darbro said. The fire is still under investigation, he said.
