MORGAN HILL
– It was a close call Monday afternoon when an out-of-control
grass fire briefly threatened to turn the hills east of town into
another Croy Fire.
This one was dubbed the Sycamore Fire. Reportedly started just
after 1 p.m. by a spark near a barn at the James Boys Ranch off
Malaguerra Road and Sycamore Avenue northeast of Morgan Hill, the
fire burned 85 acres of hillside between the face of Anderson Dam
north to the edge of visible vegetation.
MORGAN HILL – It was a close call Monday afternoon when an out-of-control grass fire briefly threatened to turn the hills east of town into another Croy Fire.
This one was dubbed the Sycamore Fire. Reportedly started just after 1 p.m. by a spark near a barn at the James Boys Ranch off Malaguerra Road and Sycamore Avenue northeast of Morgan Hill, the fire burned 85 acres of hillside between the face of Anderson Dam north to the edge of visible vegetation.
No structures were damaged but one was threatened for a time, said Pam Rhoten, information officer for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
“They were very cognizant of possible threats to other properties,” Rhoten said.
The fire was 60 percent contained by 4:30 p.m., Rhoten said, with 100 percent containment expected by midnight. Firefighters were on the line overnight, stamping out hot spots and keeping an eye on potential flare ups.
The fire was fought primarily by air since the terrain was steep and rugged, according to South Valley Newspapers Photographer James Mohs, who managed to get near the fireline. The winds in the area were gusty, adding to the difficulty of fighting the fire.
“A few times it (the fire) got around the firefighters,” Mohs said, “and burned through hoses. It created a few very tense minutes.”
The fire, he said, ran up the hill and over the ridge. The area is covered with grasses, thistles, oaks and pines.
Rhoten said firefighters from Santa Clara County Fire Department, Gilroy Fire Department, CDF and San Jose Fire Department converged on the scene. The agencies all have mutual aid compacts to help each other out when needed.
Rhoten said at one point the firefighting force included three helicopters with “Bambi buckets” picking up water from the reservoir and dumping it on the fire, four air tankers spraying fire retardant, one air attack plane containing the coordinator, a command officer supervising from the air, 37 engines, three bulldozers and eight hand crews of approximately 15 members each.
“They wanted to keep the fire from getting into Holiday Lake Estates,” Rhoten said.
The hillside housing development of expensive homes lies south and east of the fire and downwind at times. It is connected by ravines and roads to the Jackson Oaks development. Mohs said he saw embers blowing in that direction.
The blaze burned both in Morgan Hill and San Jose and caused about 36 youths to be evacuated from the county Juvenile Probation Department-operated Harold Holden Ranch. No one from the adjacent James Boys Ranch was evacuated.
