Photograph by George Sakkestad
Firefighters hose down the smoldering remains of a fire-gutted garage at 755 Blossom Hill Road.
By Shari Kaplan
A single-alarm fire at a residence across from The Terraces of Los Gatos on Blossom Hill Road last week caused approximately $80,000 worth of damage, according to Santa Clara County Central Fire District Chief Fire Investigator Bill Hardwicke.
Los Gatos police officer John Jennings was driving along Blossom Hill Road around 3 p.m. Oct. 16 when he noticed flames coming from the residence, one of the properties owned by the Cilker family. He called in the report to police dispatchers, who notified the fire district. Jennings also checked the area around the burning garage for victims and rescued an old dog, which he gave to neighbors for safekeeping, police said.
Two fire engines, one truck company and the hazardous-materials team responded to 755 Blossom Hill Road within minutes, along with Hardwicke and Dolph, the fire district's arson-investigating dog. The fire, which Hardwicke said appears to be accidental, took about 20 minutes to completely extinguish and was confined to the garage. No one was home at the time of the fire, which caused $40,000 in structural damages and destroyed $40,000 of personal items, he said.
Some fire district personnel remained at the scene until 7:30 p.m. that evening, conducting investigations and checking to make sure there were no smoldering embers or hot spots.
Fire officials were still trying to determine the exact cause of the fire at press time.
This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, October 23, 1996.
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