Wildfire in south Santa Clara County burns 2,000 acres, two buildings
A wildfire burning in south Santa Clara County grew to more than 2,000 acres Monday, destroying two buildings and injuring one person, a CalFire official said.
Officials had yet to confirm whether the person injured was a firefighter or civilian but said it was not serious. CalFire crews have been battling the blaze on Crews Road in the hills outside Gilroy since Sunday afternoon and had it 20% contained Monday morning.
The flames spread quickly Sunday, expanding from 150 acres about an hour after crews got on the scene, around 3 p.m., to 1,000 acres by 6:30 p.m., according to updates provided by CalFire.
By Sunday evening, crews had the blaze 15% contained, but it had spread to 1,500 acres and an evacuation order had been issued for houses on Canada Road. The Red Cross set up an evacuation center at the
Gilroy Senior Center, but nobody had arrived as of Monday morning, leading the CalFire official to speculate the residents had evacuated to friends or family.
Additional help, including crews from the Oakland, Fremont and Alameda County fire departments, arrived on the scene Sunday evening and more was due to arrive on Monday as the blaze burned toward Highway 152.
Nearby, crews had the brush fire burning east of Morgan Hill mostly contained Monday morning. It had not grown from the 343 acres it was consuming Sunday evening, and crews had the blaze 80% contained Monday. An evacuation order was lifted Sunday evening.