SAN JOSE – Fireworks were the suspected cause of two fires Thursday night that burned vegetation, including one that rose to a second-tier response, fire officials said.
The Tier 2 response came for a blaze in the foothills east of Almaden Lake in South San Jose, according to the San Jose Fire Department. Crews responded to that fire about 9:55 p.m.
Crews controlled that blaze in about three hours. It burned between five and 10 acres, officials said.
Firefighters had to contest with challenges accessing that fire, partly because attendees of a professional fireworks show going on at Almaden Lake were leaving the show, officials said. San Jose police helped with traffic control and Cal Fire crews aided San Jose firefighters.
The blaze burned away from homes in the area but toward the Boulder Ridge Golf Club on Old Quarry Road, officials said. It threatened several utility poles and power lines, and firefighters focused on preventing damage to those to keep power to that neighborhood from being affected.
The first fire was reported around 8:40 p.m. in a vacant lot near State Street and Pacific Avenue, according to fire officials. Crews contained the fire to two acres.
Neither fire burned down any buildings or injured anyone, officials said.
Elsewhere in Northern California, crews worked to get the Thompson Fire under control. The 3,789-acre blaze in the Oroville Dam area has led to the evacuation of 28,000 people but was 46% contained early Friday, according to Cal Fire.
Crews also had their hands full with the French Fire in Mariposa. Cal Fire said the blaze had burned 843 acres and was 5% contained early Friday.
Check back for updates.
