GILROY
– How many people would let strangers borrow one’s personal
vehicle to tow a trailer south to Santa Barbara?
Capt. Art Amaro, of the Gilroy Fire Department, did.
GILROY – How many people would let strangers borrow one’s personal vehicle to tow a trailer south to Santa Barbara?
Capt. Art Amaro, of the Gilroy Fire Department, did.
“I guess I took a big chance, really,” Amaro said. “But I know what it is, to try to pack up your kids and go away. … And then to have car trouble – it’s no fun. I’ve been there.”
Julie Silva was an awed beneficiary of Amaro’s generosity and of the kindness of four other firefighters: Capt. Joshua Valverde, Jim Buessing, Shaun Peyghambary and Jim Dempsey. In a Sept. 16 letter to Fire Chief Jeff Clet, she wrote, “I have come to find what I have always heard was true. Firefighters are an amazing breed of people.”
Here’s how it happened, according to Silva and Amaro:
It was Sept. 12, and Julie and Jeff Silva were driving south on U.S. 101 from their home in Santa Rosa (about 55 miles north of San Francisco) to take their son Jerrod to college in Santa Barbara for the start of his sophomore year. Towing a U-Haul trailer proved too much for their 1991 Izuzu Rodeo sport-utility vehicle, however, and as smoke began to pour from beneath the hood, the Silvas took the Monterey Street exit in Gilroy.
In the parking lot of the Sunrise Café, Jeff Silva raised the hood just as the motor burst into flame and splashed him with hot transmission fluid. Café patrons rushed out and quelled the blaze with fire extinguishers, and an employee called 911.
The five GFD members responded, and Julie Silva “frantically” phoned for towing and insurance information.
“I turned to (Amaro) and asked, ‘Where am I?’ ” she wrote. “I’ll never forget what I now find to be three warm and friendly words as he responded, ‘Welcome to Gilroy.’ ”
The firefighters made sure Jeff’s burn was OK, removed the trailer and told the Silvas they could find car-rental agencies at Tenth and Chestnut streets. Julie soon found, however, that no one would rent a vehicle for pulling trailers.
At Tenth and Chestnut, she again saw Amaro and the fire crew, putting out another vehicle fire. When he heard she had had no luck with a rental, he offered to let her borrow his pickup for the job.
“I told her, ‘I’m not doing anything this weekend,’ ” Amaro said. “She said, ‘Oh no, I can’t do that.’ ”
“You have to remember, at this point I didn’t even know the firefighters’ names,” Julie wrote.
Julie took Amaro’s name but first tried buying a trailer hitch for Jerrod’s Ford Mustang. The hitch didn’t fit, however, and “in the heat and frustration of the day,” the Silvas decided to take Amaro up on his offer.
“We peeked around the corner in the office of the Chestnut Fire Station to find all of ‘our firefighters’ working diligently, and happy to see us,” Julie wrote. “In a cowardly voice, I said, ‘Art, does your offer still stand?’ He immediately turned around to get his truck keys for us. Captain Valverde offered his truck to us also.”
The firefighters hooked the trailer to Amaro’s truck and saw the Silvas on their way after a five-hour delay. Jeff and Julie returned the truck to the firehouse two days later.
“It restored our faith in human nature,” Julie wrote of her Gilroy experience. “Before 12:15 on that Friday afternoon, we had no idea we would cross paths with such caring and compassionate human beings.”
City Councilman Bob Dillon approached The Dispatch to praise the firefighters.
“That is so far beyond what is necessary that it’s very laudable – and very typical … of our public safety (staff),” Dillon said. “How can you give a better impression of your town than that?”
