More than 100 firefighters from a half-dozen county agencies
battled a wind-swept fire Tuesday that leveled a dozen greenhouses
and a number of cars in San Martin. No injuries were reported, but
one man with a heart condition was transported to a local hospital
as a precaution.
San Martin – More than 100 firefighters from a half-dozen county agencies battled a wind-swept fire Tuesday that leveled a dozen greenhouses and a number of cars in San Martin. No injuries were reported, but one man with a heart condition was transported to a local hospital as a precaution.
One of the owners of the property was evacuated, along with her dogs, but others in the neighborhood were advised by fire crews to remain in their homes to protect them from any toxic fumes.
By presstime Tuesday, the cause of the fire, which was battled by crews from seven different agencies, was still under investigation and the amount of damage was not available.
But Donna Alamul, the daughter of property owner Nicky Chan, said a tenant on the property had recently lost some possessions in a different fire. After the tennant had been evicted, Chan’s home was burglarized earlier in the week. Wallets and other personal items were stolen from the Chans during the burglary, she said.
She declined to speculate whether the cause was arson.
“Let’s just say it is suspicious,” she said.
CALFIRE Battalion Chief Ken McGeever said an arson investigator was on scene.
The fire started about 11:30am, and though firefighters were on scene within minutes, several greenhouses and trailers were already engulfed in flames. Strong winds propelled the flames, spreading the fire quickly throughout the 5-acre property. Crews moved to the interior of the property rapidly in order to defend the home, but could not save the garage.
A column of thick black smoke was visible for miles, causing a flood of phone calls to Morgan Hill police dispatchers and slowing traffic on southbound U.S. 101 south of the Middle Avenue overpass. Many spectators parked on the overpass and lined the sides of East Middle Avenue with cell phones, talking and taking pictures.
Half an hour into the blaze, firefighters reported power lines down in the area after a power pole burned, and PG&E crews responded to the scene while power to that grid was automatically shut down. PG&E spokesman David Eisenhauer said about 1,600 residents in the area along Tennant Avenue between Murphy Avenue and Foothill Drive and between Tennant Avenue and Church Street lost power for at least an hour. At presstime, power had been restored to all but five families. Power was restored to 765 customers at 1pm, to 650 at 1:20pm, to 82 at 3:23pm and 134 at 4:27pm.
Burning embers and flames jumped to a second of plastic-sided greenhouses, which quickly burned, releasing toxic fumes and smoke in a haze above the ground, one reason firefighters advised residents to stay indoors. Additional crews were called in as officials feared the blaze would endanger neighboring homes and fields.
Morgan Hill Police Department officers, Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office deputies and California Highway Patrol officers responded to help with traffic control and to standby if evacuations became necessary.
“Fire [agencies] are expert in setting up incident command like this, but we’re all learning how to work together,” Sheriff’s Office Lt. Dale Unger said. “We’re learning from the mistakes that were made during Katrina and 9/11. This is the perfect example of how we need to work together during an incident.”
Alamul said her family has owned the property for about 20 years, that the greenhouses were once filled with flowers, but now her father is retired, and the greenhouses have been idle for about two years.
“I am so totally relieved,” Alamul said, when asked about seeing that her parents were safe. “The fact that everyone is safe, that’s what’s important. Everything else is just stuff.”
Fire crews, she added, were “doing a great job.” She said she was especially pleased that the home was not destroyed.
Cindy and Phil Zuniga who live across the street from the property said they saw the smoke and flames just after 11:30am, and they were very happy when Alamul’s mother took refuge with them.
“She was shaken, very, very shaken,” Cindy said.
The Chans have several dogs that were safely evacuated by MHPD Animal Control Officer Daniel Pina, according to Phil.
Pina and other officers were also busy helping fellow MHPD Cpl. Michael Brookman evacuate animals from his property, which abuts the Chan property.
“He has a dog, I call him the miracle dog now, because he was under one of the trailers that was fully engulfed and he survived,” Pina said.
The CDF helicopter filled its bucket with water from the pond at Community Park in Morgan Hill, making trip after trip with a turn-around time of several minutes.
Seven different fire agencies, including Gilroy Fire Department, San Jose Fire Department, Santa Clara City Fire Department and Saratoga Fire Department, sent crews to work on the blaze, with maybe 100 people on the scene during the estimated two hours before the fire was largely tamped down.
