Almaden Hills Estates is adjacent to the Santa Teresa Ridge.  In July, 1997, there were three fires on this ridge.  Two of the fires burned to about 50 feet from the nearest homes, too close for comfort.  Many of the homes have wood roofs.  But unlike what happened in the Los Gatos fire in August, no homes were lost.  The following is excerpted from a letter sent by the Almaden Hills Estates Homeowners Association to everyone in the neighborhood:

We've had three close calls, the three hillside fires.  The whole neighborhood had three close calls, not just those whose homes border the hillsides.  Those who have wood roofs in this neighborhood, even those who live close to Almaden Expressway, are at great risk of having their roofs catch fire whenever the hillsides catch fire.  We were lucky this time.  If one of these fires had occurred on a hot August afternoon with temperatures of 95 F or more and steady Santa Anna winds blowing down on us, we would probably have several burned homes in our neighborhood.

Flying embers (actually burning twigs) could easily reach any home in Almaden Hills Estates from a fire on the nearby hillsides.  The problem occurs when shrubs and/or trees are burning, not grasses.

Most of our homes were built 17 to 18 years ago.  Those of you with wood roofs have roofs that can burn very easily (much more readily than when the roofs were new).  Don't expect the fire department to be here in advance to wet down everyone's wood roof.  It doesn't work that way.

I was home for the first fire.  I watched the smoke on the hill for an hour before I could see any flames.  The fire department didn't even arrive until the fire was only 100 feet away from the rear fence of the homes on upper Mazzone Dr. (about 130 feet from the closest houses).  When the fire department did arrive, the fire was elevated to seven alarms.  Fire trucks seemed to appear out of thin air.  Why didn't any of our houses burn?  Here are five reasons why none of our homes burned in the first fire:

• The temperature was not especially hot.
• The wind, although present, was erratic.  This inhibited the spreading of burning embers even though substantial portions of the hillside were covered with shrubs.  On top of the ridge, the fire had jumped a 30-foot fire break like it wasn't there.
• Owners and neighbors watered down houses with wooden roofs that were closest to the fire.
• There were no other large fires in San Jose at the time.
• The fire department was able to call on substantial reserves.  The fire department was able to place 150 firefighters at the fire while still protecting the other parts of the city by using reciprocal agreements with California Department of Forestry (CDF) and the City of Santa Clara.  (San Jose only has 180 firefighters total.)

To give an indication of the seriousness of the first fire, the fire department requested the services of a CDF helicopter (which isn't covered by any agreement and costs $2,400 per hour).  There is no money set aside in the city budget for this cost.

The second fire was put out before it got to be large.

The third fire did burn through heavy brush and was fanned by steady wind currents.  The fire department was able to manipulate the winds by a carefully controlled backfire.  This fire went to four alarms.

All three fires were stopped without any damage to our homes.  In short, we lucked out.  Next time might be different.  For example, what if there had been a large fire downtown or another wildfire, and CDF couldn't come?

As a result of the fires, one of our residents spearheaded an effort to get a group purchase on light weight Class A cement shake, slate, or tile roofs.  The group purchase enabled our residents to get new roofs at a substantial discount.

by Charles Smith, President, Almaden Hills Estates Homeowners Association