Shed fire draws firefighters to Los Trancos Woods

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A burning shed adjacent to a detached guest house at 20 Ciervos Road in Los Trancos Woods brought firefighters in from Woodside, Redwood City, Menlo Park and the California Department of Fire and Forestry last night (Thursday, Feb. 21) to fight the fire.

The 911 call came in at about 5:30 p.m., and within 30 minutes of arriving, the one-alarm fire was under control, Battalion Chief Kevin Butler of the Woodside Fire Protection District told The Almanac. Firefighters were on the scene for about two hours, he said.

The Woodside fire district serves Woodside, Portola Valley and nearby unincorporated communities, including Los Trancos Woods.

The one-story guest house is now uninhabitable, but among the two residents and three cats living there, no one was injured, Butler said. He said he had no information on the cause of the fire or a dollar amount for damages resulting from it. Woodside district Fire Marshal Denise Enea is investigating, he said.

The fire did not spread beyond one bedroom of the guest house, nor did it involve vegetation, he said.

A crew from Pacific Gas & Electric Company detached the meter in the guest house, Butler said.

Engine 8 from Portola Valley was first on the scene, Butler said. All told, the incident engaged nine vehicles, including a squad/rescue vehicle and an ambulance, he said. The log entry at firedispatch.com lists six fire engines at the scene. Deputies from the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office were also present, he said.

Getting to the fire via Los Trancos Road and Alpine Road was arduous, Butler said. “The situation was a challenge because of very steep and narrow roads,” he said. “Access was challenging for the fire engines.”

Emergency services radio reports during the incident noted the presence of pedestrians and vehicles on Alpine Road. “We had to use caution,” Butler said. The people firefighters encountered on the road were not evacuating, he noted.

Supplies of water were not a problem, even though the site was “one of the higher areas of our fire district,” Butler said. Each fire engine can carry 500 gallons or 750 gallons of water and the tanks can be linked, which is what was done in this case to feed the hose of the fire engine closest to the fire, he said.

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