Fast-Moving Fire Destroys Six Homes in Los Gatos

A fast-moving brush fire fueled by gusty and erratic winds destroyed six homes and forced the evacuation of a retirement home Thursday, fire officials said.

The multi-alarm fire, reported about 4 p.m. and contained three hours later, burned through a steep, wooded area filled with expensive homes, California Department of Forestry Battalion Chief Dave Athey said. Firefighters expected to have the flames completely extinguished by dawn today.

Six homes were destroyed and two others partially damaged. Three of those were estates valued at $500,000 or more; at least one was reduced to nothing more than ashes, a chimney and wall supports, Athey said. No injuries were reported.

The fire forced the evacuation of the retirement home and private residences on at least three streets, fire officials said. The number of people displaced was not immediately available.

Eleven ambulances helped get more than 400 residents of the Los Gatos Meadows retirement facility out of the area, including about 50 who could not walk on their own. Eleven were taken to local hospitals because their medical needs required special care, Los Gatos Police Sgt. Kerry Harris said.

Meanwhile, officers went door to door to tell frightened homeowners to leave. Some teary-eyed residents rushed to remove a few possessions before going to evacuation centers at Los Gatos High School and the Los Gatos Methodist Church.

The fire also forced the closure of southbound lanes on California 17, one of the main thoroughfares between San Jose and Santa Cruz on the Northern California coast, causing a massive traffic jam during the commute hours. Los Gatos is about 45 miles south of San Francisco.

Roughly 200 firefighters attacked the flames from the ground and the air. Although only 15 acres burned, officials said the fire had the potential to be much worse because the vegetation is thick and many of the homes in the area are older and constructed of wood. The area’s many dead-end streets also created a difficult firefighting situation.

“The problem we’re running into--and it gets worse every year--is that people are building their homes in lush vegetation and not clearing a defensible space around them,” Athey said.

The cause of the fire was not known.