AGENCIES THAT RESPONDED to last month’s Edgewood Fire that burned 10 acres along Interstate Highway 280 in Woodside discussed the details of what could have been a more disastrous blaze during a San Mateo County Board of Supervisors meeting this week.
County Executive Mike Callagy said he asked the board to discuss the events surrounding the fire to highlight how without a swift, multi-agency response, the fire had the potential to be far more destructive.
The fire is “a stark reminder of what can take place very quickly,” he said. “This is a car fire that jumped 280 and threatened Cañada College and some of the residents in the area.”
Just before 5 p.m. on Aug. 30, emergency dispatch received a call that a vegetation fire had broken out near the Farm Hill Boulevard on-ramp to northbound I-280. The fire, which started from a car’s mechanical issue, began to grow and threaten Cañada College and several homes nearby.
Upon arrival, the flames were “moving uphill towards the college at a moderate rate of speed,” said Vince Nannini, battalion chief with the Woodside Fire Protection District, during the presentation.
The fire district elevated the call from a second-alarm fire to a third-alarm fire as strong wind gusts began spreading embers across I-280 and igniting the grasslands on the freeway’s opposite side. Fires in the third-alarm category are deemed significant fires that require additional resources and specialized equipment to be contained.
“Once the fire hit the top of the hill, it got taken by a gust of wind that spread it to the center divide,” Nannini said. “It worked its way down the center divide into the gore point on the Farm Hill southbound on-ramp, jumped again and moved across that on-ramp to the freeway.”
The California Highway Patrol closed both directions of I-280. With the fire surrounding both sides of the freeway, it was elevated to a four-alarm blaze to help protect Cañada College and homes in proximity.
Cal Fire’s CZU Unit, the CHP, San Mateo County Fire Department, Redwood City Fire Department, and other agencies worked together in response.
One tactical aircraft, two air tankers, and two helicopters were deployed to surveil the area and dump thousands of gallons of water and fire retardant.
While the fire was not determined to be life-threatening, several homes in the surrounding neighborhood were evacuated as a precaution, according to the county Department of Emergency Management.
Around 6 p.m., the fire stopped progressing. It burned 10 acres in total.
“I think we lost three fence posts and we cut chains to get through to some properties,” Nannini said. “So no real significant property loss at all.”
‘We were lucky’
CAL FIRE CZU Unit Deputy Chief Ryan West noted there were reports of a possible citizen drone flying in the area.
West warned the public that flying drones over locations during an emergency response can worsen the abilities of agencies in conducting their operations.
“If we do have people that launch drones in the vicinity of these incidents, we cannot bring our aircraft in,” West said at the meeting.
Shruti Dhapodkar, director of the county’s Department of Emergency Management, acknowledged that the robust response and moderate weather conditions helped prevent what could have been a more destructive fire.
“I think we are very lucky that the relative humidity was somewhat higher, the wind speed was 2 to 3 miles per hour,” she said at the meeting. “This was an area where there were eucalyptus trees, and that causes a lot of smoke, so we were lucky.”