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Fire guts part of Campbell home
Posted: Apr 7 2008, 02:00 AM
I heard the sirens and then we started smelling smoke. Mary and I stepped out into the street to see if we could see anything, but it seemed a significant distance off from our house. A car full of teenagers passed me while I was scanning the skyline. On their way by, they stopped for a moment to ask me if I knew where the fire was.
Looking on the map, that seems to be right next to John D Morgan park. Joe's volleyball group would have probably still been playing right around the time of the fire.
Looking on the map, that seems to be right next to John D Morgan park. Joe's volleyball group would have probably still been playing right around the time of the fire.
Posted: Apr 7 2008, 01:26 PM
It's on Lemoyne Way, near San Tomas Park. I looked at a house there several years ago. I believe STP is on Fenian, the stretch between San Tomas Aquino and Harriet. I always thought it was San Tomas Aquino until one day I was walking and noticed the street changed names.
Posted: Apr 7 2008, 02:14 PM
Upps, I meant San Tomas Park. John D. Morgan was where they USED to play.
Posted: Apr 8 2008, 08:19 AM
Yes we were playing when the fire started. All the smoke and commotion, as well as concern for the neighborhood caused us to stop playing. The house was next to the park. The house's backyard shared a fence with the small kids playground. The flames were barely 30' from the park fence. There is a grove of Eucalyptus tress (wow, I spelled correctly) next to the park fence. Once those types of trees get lit, oh baby, they burn. Something about the oil content.
What surprised us was how long it took for the firemen to get there. The article said they responded in seven minutes (baloney). We worried for twenty minutes why no firemen had responded. Several of the players wanted to dial 911 because it was taking so long. And this is after the plume of smoke was so large, it was unmistakably a house fire and not an overzealous mexican bbq'er (we love lighter fluid and burning meat). We could hear the burning and the popping from the field. Finally, we heard sirens and then you saw a lot of gray smoke and the fire was under control within minutes. No other house was damaged. It didn't reach the park trees, thank goodness.
The other thing that bothered me was the attraction the fire was to spectators. Instead of clearing the area out for safety and access for the firefighters, the people were climbing every structure including the back fence to see more. Watching someone's house burn isn't my kind of entertainment. The smoke is toxic, there could be propane or gas tanks, and the kids/adults were putting their face in harms way. There were so many people running across the park that we could not continue our game. And the streets were jammed up with traffic. Unbelievable!
In case you have not read the article, no one was hurt. It started in the garage while the husband was out. The wife/kid got out of the house in time. That is what matters to me. The ironic thing to me was she had to call her husband to find out what to do. Grab your kid, Get out of the house and DIAL 911!
This post has been edited by techvbjoe on Apr 8 2008, 08:22 AM
What surprised us was how long it took for the firemen to get there. The article said they responded in seven minutes (baloney). We worried for twenty minutes why no firemen had responded. Several of the players wanted to dial 911 because it was taking so long. And this is after the plume of smoke was so large, it was unmistakably a house fire and not an overzealous mexican bbq'er (we love lighter fluid and burning meat). We could hear the burning and the popping from the field. Finally, we heard sirens and then you saw a lot of gray smoke and the fire was under control within minutes. No other house was damaged. It didn't reach the park trees, thank goodness.
The other thing that bothered me was the attraction the fire was to spectators. Instead of clearing the area out for safety and access for the firefighters, the people were climbing every structure including the back fence to see more. Watching someone's house burn isn't my kind of entertainment. The smoke is toxic, there could be propane or gas tanks, and the kids/adults were putting their face in harms way. There were so many people running across the park that we could not continue our game. And the streets were jammed up with traffic. Unbelievable!
In case you have not read the article, no one was hurt. It started in the garage while the husband was out. The wife/kid got out of the house in time. That is what matters to me. The ironic thing to me was she had to call her husband to find out what to do. Grab your kid, Get out of the house and DIAL 911!
This post has been edited by techvbjoe on Apr 8 2008, 08:22 AM
