Hot spots still burn in Morgan Hill’s worst fire in 80 years
”
The Croy Fire will smolder until the rains come,
”
– John Ferreira, CDF Division Chief, in Santa Clara Unit
A CDF firefighter is recuperating from burns suffered recently
in Croy Canyon as he battled one of hundreds of still smoldering
hot spots.
Hot spots still burn in Morgan Hill’s worst fire in 80 years
“The Croy Fire will smolder until the rains come,” – John Ferreira, CDF Division Chief, in Santa Clara Unit
A CDF firefighter is recuperating from burns suffered recently in Croy Canyon as he battled one of hundreds of still smoldering hot spots.
William White, 31, was soaking a smoking tree stump when the ground beneath him gave way and embedded him in hot coals up to his waist. Another firefighter nearby pulled him out, and White was life-flighted out by chopper to Valley Medical in San Jose where he is listed in good condition. But the five-year fire veteran has second- and third-degree burns, mostly caused by scorching steam, on almost 20 percent of his body.
It’s the worst injury suffered by the more than 2,100 firefighters who have worked on the fire, which raged for 12 days in September and consumed 3,000 acres in the mountains above Morgan Hill.
Speaking from his hospital bed, White said the accident happened so fast and that he was rescued so quickly he didn’t realize how bad he was injured. He said he was in the hellish hole for about “five seconds tops.”
“I just wanted to get out,” said White, who lives near Folsom. “It’s hard to describe. It’s hot dirt, rocks, smoldering limbs, wood.”
While the worst of the blazing inferno was extinguished in early October, it doesn’t mean the area is secure and free of buried coals and embers. CDF Santa Clara Division Chief John Ferreira said there are still plenty of hot spots smoldering beneath the ground.
“We send a patrol truck with a crew up there every day,” said Ferreira. “The Croy fire will smolder until it rains, and it doesn’t seem like it’s going to rain anytime soon.”
In White’s case, he and several others were working in a graded area, where dirt over the years had been pushed over the brush by earthmoving equipment, said Ferreira. Many tree stumps had roots still burning under the ground. White was pouring water into a hole next to a stump, where a small cavern had formed beneath.
“That area had been graded,” said White. “They created voids underneath the ground. On the surface it looks normal but underneath are burning limbs.”
When the water contacted the hot coals in the little cavern, the steam expanded and nearly exploded, collapsing the ground beneath White. He instantly found himself trapped.
Fortunately, two-year veteran Louis Zerdoudakis pulled him out without hesitation and started hosing him off.
“I knew I was burned, but I didn’t know how bad until we got the Nomex suit and pants off,” said White. “I could see blisters were already forming, and on my right leg the skin was peeling off.”
Their fire captain called in two rescue helicopters – CALSTAR and their own unit helicopter, “Chopper 0106.” The 0106 arrived first, but they decided to wait a few more minutes for the CALSTAR since it was better equipped and staffed with nurses. White was whisked to the Valley Medical Regional Burn Unit.
White’s fiancee, Hilda Guardado, has been staying by his side since the accident, helping him with his physical therapy and providing moral support in his recovery. So far, the firefighter has not had to have skin grafts, but doctors are still waiting to see how a particularly bad third-degree burn patch on his leg heals.
Fifteen other firefighters have been injured battling the Croy blaze, but before White’s accident they had all been minor, consisting largely of sprained ankles and chars of the eyes. Thirty-four buildings were destroyed in the catastrophe – but 62 were saved.
