Early-Morning Debris Fire Extinguished Near Sewage Plant

A pile of debris burning for several hours near Gilroy’s wastewater treatment plant spread to a number of illegally dumped items in a creek Thursday morning, causing a short-lived flareup, said Gilroy Fire Department Capt. Tim Price.

Firefighters received a call reporting the fire near 6295 Frazier Lake Rd. from the sewage plant crew at 8:48 a.m., he said. The engine that arrived was able to bring the fire under control within 15 minutes, but remained on scene for more than an hour to ensure the surrounding brush was cooled

In a practice known as “overhauling,” the team used a rake to pull hot material away from the creek, saturating the mass with foam, the captain said. 

Engineer Colette Harmon used a heat-sensitive camera to identify areas that remained hot after the fire, directing firefighter Ryan Coy to saturate them with foam.