Flareup Scorches Field on First Street

A flareup at the intersection of First Street and Santa Teresa Avenue Friday afternoon scorched a field, but recently-mowed grass helped keep flames from spreading to nearby houses, said Gilroy Fire Capt. Roy Shackle.

A call reporting the fire came in at 2:24 p.m., the captain said. Several vehicles from Gilroy and one from CAL FIRE responded, and firefighters had the blaze under control within ten minutes.

"It's a good thing that this had been recently plowed, otherwise there could have been a lot more flame," the captain said, citing mandatory fire prevention required in the city.

Under a tent near the scorched field, Felix Urbena was selling succulents and other plants for Beautiful Flowers when he saw sparks fly from the nearby overhead power lines.

"I was sitting here reading a book when I saw the explosion," he said, "The cables sparked, then, within two minutes, there was a fire."

Callers had reported that a tree had hit power lines farther down the road, at the intersection of Highway 152 and Watsonville Road. The incidents could have been related, but Capt. Shackle said that the interconnected nature of power systems makes determining the cause difficult. 

"Problems can start anywhere in the system," he said.