Firefighters quickly extinguished the fire that appeared to be burning through the tile roof above a small storage area attached to the two-story structure.
After careful inspection of the interior of the building it was determined that there was no extension and units began to return to service. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
On the morning of June 10, 2008, Cisco Systems, Calpine and the San Jose Fire Department, with the assistance of AMR, participated in a simulated natural gas explosion and multi-causality event. Engines 25 and 29, Truck and Rescue Medic 29, Med 30 and Battalion 29 worked with Cisco System’s Emergency Response Team (ERT) members to assess, treat and transport moulaged victims.
The “real time” drill incorporated a limited unified command with SJFD assuming lead roles as IC and PIO. Functional groups were created for Fire Suppression, Hazardous Materials, Rescue and Medical. Cisco showcased their state-of-the-art NERV (Network Emergency Response Vehicle) that has extensive technological and communication capabilities.
Cisco has performed simulated drills for nearly a decade at their north San Jose campus.
In addition to strike teams of firefighters on fire engines assigned to fire suppression operations, San Jose Fire dispatchers were also part of the mutual aid response to the Summit Fire. Senior Dispatcher Tracy Jackson spent two days assisting at the Cal Fire Morgan Hill Command Center’s Expanded Dispatch Center. She was assigned to generate, fill and place requests for overhead personnel and equipment needed to support operations at the fire – making sure mutual aid resources needed to fight the fire and support their activities got the call.
Meanwhile, Senior Dispatchers Tracy Deitschman and Randall Larson were assigned as Incident Dispatchers to the Summit Fire Command Post established at Christmas Hill Park in Gilroy. Joined by dispatchers from Santa Clara County Communications, and later by incident dispatchers from Sacramento and Orange County, Tracy and Randall spent nine days with “Summit Communications,” responsible for managing communications 24-hours-a-day between crews on the fireline, command and support staff at the Incident Base Camp,and various allied fire, medical and law enforcement agencies. Operating in a mobile communications unit deployed by Santa Clara County, communications on the Summit Fire was the backbone of incident management and firefighter accountability.
All three of San Jose’s Incident Dispatchers supporting the Summit Fire were trained, certified and qualified in their positions through the California Fire Chiefs Association, Communications Section, and are part of the Fire Department’s Incident Dispatch Team, which regularly responds to provide a communications and resource accountability to major incidents within the city. In previous years, San Jose Fire dispatchers were deployed outside the city as mutual aid resources to provide communications support during the 2006 an 2003 southern California fire sieges, and on numerous other fires.
For more information on the SJFD Incident Dispatch Team, link to: www.sjfd.org/idt.htm
Submitted by Randall Larson, Director, SJFD Incident Dispatch Team.
Upon arrival, Engine 11 found that there was a large multiple-unit structure on fire and a second alarm was dispatched at 11:22 A.M. There were heavy flames on the first and second floors and a third alarm was dispatched at 11:30 A.M.
Ultimately, two additional engines were dispatched to assist with rehab of the crews on scene and the fire was declared under control at 2:50 P.M. Sixty-nine firefighters battled the four-alarm fire. Unfortunately, a male resident died in the fire.
Five firefighters were injured during the fire, with four suffering minor injuries that required treatment at Santa Teresa Hospital.
Photos by John Whitaker, Fire Associates of Santa Clara Valley
