One house has burned already this holiday season, and the Southcoast presents special hazards

Saturday night at 11:24 pm fire engines from the La Honda and Loma Mar Volunteer Fire Departments, as well as the CDF/County Fire Station at Pescadero were dispatched to a structure fire on Cougar Ridge Rd. off of Gazzos Creek Rd. in the Pescadero area. The fire was several miles off of Gazos Creek Rd. and only a off road engine—similar to the one that the La Honda Fire Dept. is currently raising funds to acquire—could reach the incidents location.

Fire Fighters found a fully involved structure that regretfully burned to its foundation. Fortunately no one was injured as a result of this fire and its cause has yet to be determined.

There has now been a total of four house fires that resulted in a total loss to occur in our rural area since April of this year. In one of these fires two very young childrens lives were lost. This is a reminder to every resident and homeowner on the Southcoast that these types of fires can and will continue to happen here. It should not be taken for granted that a house fire will always affect someone else.

Now is the time for you to assess your homes fire safety.

• Do you have the proper number of smoke detectors, are they working, when did you last change their batteries? Early fire detection can clearly help protect the lives of your family and give the Fire Dept. the best chance of stopping a fire and saving as much of your home and personal property as possible.
• Does your home have adequate water with which to fight a fire? This has been a big problem in three of these fires. If your area is not served by a “Rated Fire Hydrant System” (only about 6 percent of the Southcoast is) you should attempt to have at least 10,000 gallons of water on site and it needs to be plumbed in a way that Fire Engines can connect to it.
• Is the route in to your home marked and does your home have a easily read address?

Per the National Fire Prevention Association December, January and February are some of the deadliest months of the year for home fires. For more information on Residential Fire Safety please see the La Honda Fire Brigades Dec. 2004 Newsletter, it’s due to hit the mail next week.  You may also find valuable information at the following Web Sites: www.firesafety.gov, www.usfa.fema.gov, www.lahondafire.org, and www.NFPA.org

On behalf of all of the Fire Fighters who serve the San Mateo County Southcoast we wish you a happy and safe holiday season.