Patricia Castro was driving to San Jose on Sunday afternoon when she received an unexpected phone call. The voice on the other end was notifying her that her business, Mi Casita Multi Servicios, was ablaze.
“I thought it was a joke and I even joked around telling them to call the fire department,” she said.
It wasn’t until she looked at the alerts on her cell phone when she realized this was no laughing matter. Mi Casita along with Design Line & Granger Printing, New Image Salon, Aristotle Insurance Agency and Mary’s Flowers on San Benito Street were destroyed in a fire that broke loose July 12.
Charlie Bedolla, fire marshal for San Benito and Hollister fire departments, said they received the initial call at 3:54 p.m. for a confirmed structure fire.
“Once we arrived at that scene we did see some fire but heavy smoke blowing out the side,” he said.
The road closure on San Benito Street hindered their operations a little bit but it was the wind that played a huge factor.
Bedolla said they saw wind gusts of up to 20 miles per hour and it was a deterrent because people weren’t able to tell there was fire until the flames were visible.
“We saw people dining out here and they didn’t even know there was a fire until it actually started coming out,” he said.
Bedolla said they called for mutual aid requests from three different counties: Monterey, Santa Cruz and Santa Clara. They ended up utilizing six truck aerial ladders alongside other fire engine companies from CalFire, Watsonville and Salinas.
“It got pretty big, pretty fast so we needed a lot of help,” Bedolla said.
Bedolla mentioned that four firefighters suffered minor injuries and they were released from the hospital.
Bedolla said they had a firewatch crew sitting overnight to completely remove any leftover hotspots. There were 11 investigators through Monterey County, Santa Cruz and San Benito counties including the Hollister Police Department and San Benito County Sheriff’s Department.
Bedolla said they have an origin and a possible cause but they need the property owner to do their own investigation, for insurance purposes, before any of the information is released.
“We don’t want to release anything yet because we don’t want to compromise the investigation,” he said.
Bedolla said the next step is to make the property secure and safe before they place a gate around it. They had to clear space so PG&E could access the utilities that are built underground.
“It’s a devastating blow,” Bedolla said. “It’s sad because there were five businesses that were here.”
Castro said she was so distraught about getting the news that she began driving north to San Francisco, not realizing how far she had traveled.
“There was a reason I got sidetracked because it would’ve been stunning to be a spectator, watching 12 years of work go down in flames,” she said. “It’s not just me but the employees too. There’s a lot of memories.”
Castro, 48, said she’s not upset about losing office supplies or equipment because it can be replaced. Instead, she’s a little emotional at the fact that she won’t be able to make those special memories with her clients.
On Monday, Castro was scavenging for anything left behind because her biggest concern was having her client’s personal information such as social security numbers exposed or compromised.
Castro said she was ready to move to a bigger spot but this wasn’t the way she wanted to go out. She mentioned that she already has a new place in mind and is hopeful she’ll be able to restart her services beginning Monday.
“I feel sad but I’m confident that this isn’t the end but instead it’s the start of a new era,” she said.
