Los Gatos, California
Los Gatos real estate, neighborhoods, condos, houses, homes, market trends, history, events, lifestyle, parks, events, businesses, home, Mary Pope-Handy
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Nov. 29, 2007
It's ironic (and annoying) that a few nights ago, we had a "spare the air night" and were asked to not burn wood in our fireplaces on a cold and gloomy night. But within 48 hours, the California Department of Forestry was doing a little burning of its own - 1400 acres on Mount Hamilton.
Controlled burns are intended to reduce fire risk and provide some other benefits. (It is supposedly good for the habitat of the area, but I have a feeling that more than a few animals lost their lives in this burn.) But why do it now, when the rainy season is just around the corner?
I don't know the answer to that. I do know that it's a 3 day burn. The air is bad. I can't believe that this is allowed when a fireplace isn't. It's unfathomable to me that the air now isn't far worse than earlier in the week. Will they burn again tomorrow? It appears so.
NBC 11 has a nice slideshow with better pics than my Treo could capture. Enjoy.
Oct. 28, 2007
Categorized in: LG Lifestyle
Please stop by Intero's Willow Glen office
today to donate new or gently used:
Blankets, Pillows, Cots, Tents
Sleeping Bags, Air Mattresses, Canopies, Toys, Sunscreen, Paper Towels, Water, Handi Wipes, Toilet paper,
Paper Plates, Cups, Utensils,
Pet food, Carriers, Leashes
There are more than 300,000 people who have been evacuated from their homes.
Graebel Moving (408.273.1955) has donated
a trailer truck and a driver.
Intero Real Estate Services and Mary Ann Wallace
have provided the vision and
Presentation High School
is helping to get the word out and take collections.
The trailer will be located at:
Intero Real Estate Services
1567 Meridian Ave
San Jose, Ca 95125
Today, Sunday from 9am-5pm or until it is full.
All items will be delivered to Father Joe's Villages
which has a warehouse to
accept and distribute the supplies.
Thank you for your support!
Any questions, concerns or ideas please call:
Mary Ann Wallace
408.307.0055
THANK YOU FOR YOUR GENEROSITY
Sep. 6, 2007
Categorized in: LG Lifestyle
The fire in the eastern foothills of Santa Clara Valley began
almost 3 days ago and was first spotted from the James Lick
Observatory - so has been dubbed the Lick Fire. The first day and a
half, an enormous plume of
smoke could be seen rising in the hills by south San Jose and
Morgan Hill from Henry Coe State Park. Smoke and haze hung
over the eastern range; it was in contrast to the rest of the area
between there and the coastal foothills, where the
sky remained blue.
But chiarascura didn't last. For a day now, the haze has
thickened. Smoke is pouring in, and not much of it seems to be
escaping.
We can't see the plume anymore. We can't even see that bank of
hills anymore. Too much smoke.
This morning I drove my kids to
school in and near downtown San Jose (Notre Dame High School and
Bellarmine College Prep). Heading east on Blossom Hill Road, we
were shocked at the eeriely discolored sun hanging low in the sky.
It was a pinkish red, a look that you might see just at sunset
on a fall or summer evening - but not when the sun was so high in
the sky. (Photo above taken with Palm Treo.) It was just
creepy.
Because the fire is located in a remote region of the park, with
rough terrain and no roads, it's difficult to get close enough to
even fight it.
Often fires begin because of a cigarette tossed
carelessly. Earlier this summer, a fire ignited when
someone used a power mower to cut back brush and a spark it threw
ironically began the blaze that clearing the brush was intended to
prevent.
This fire was said to have been caused by a person burning
things in a barrell at a private hunting camp. No one has been
named, but this mishap turned nightmare could turn into a financial
liabilty approaching two million dollars. The fire may grow to
30,000 acres and will go down as one of the largest ever in the
Silicon Valley area.
Today the heat will be at a high for the week, which means that the
smoke will continue to accumulate, firefighters will still contend
with extreme conditions and the fire will have no natural incentive
to stop. When will it be contained? No one knows, but they
have a long way to go.
Rain would be good right about now.
Jun. 29, 2007
Categorized in: Los Gatos Events
The Los Gatos Observer is on it again! A recent brush fire in east Los Gatos was quickly contained by firefighters working on land and from the sky. Fantastic photos with details of the event are found on the Observer's recent article, Los Gatos Brush Fire Quickly Contained.
Jun. 8, 2007
Categorized in: LG Lifestyle
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Summer brings new risks around the country. I read a lot of real estate blogs and have the impression that now is a good time to be concerned about one dangerous thing or another. In the southest, it's hurricanes. In the midwest it's tornados. In southern California, I hear it's snakes. And in Los Gatos, Monte Sereno, Saratoga, Almaden Valley, Los Altos and the hillside areas of Silicon Valley especially, the new danger of the season - to lives, to homes - is fire.
Fire Season officially runs from May 1 to October 1. Wasting no time, May had one house fire and one fire at Lupin Lodge (the nudist resort in the Santa Cruz Mountains). If your imagination is working overtime on the second of these, you can rest assured that it was not a fire that required mass evacuations of naked people into Los Gatos....
 We had a couple of weeks without incident, but again late last week the skies of Santa Clara Valley were a murky brown and smoke could be seen rising, almost like a funnel, in the east foothills near Evergreen. Here on the west side of the valley, we get a little more rain each year and things tend to be a little greener. But on the east side, the hills are grassy instead of tree-filled, and it gets the late afternoon wind coming off the San Francisco Bay - so it's ripe for fires burning out of control.
Ironically, Friday's fire was caused by someone trying to do the right thing in the east hills of San Jose: clear the brush around his house. Unfortunately, a malfunction in his lawnmower caused the opposite to happen when it ignited a fire that ended up burning 10 acres. The fire was brought under control by a coalition of several firetrucks plus a helicopter dumping water from above.
It could have been worse, but luckily, the Evergreen area neighbors had cleared the brush away from their homes. That's how it's supposed to work - clear the brush, keep safer.
What areas are most at risk? There are a few things to consider, but the most important appears to be housing density. The closer homes are together, usually the less risk for fires (lawns and shrubbery tend to be green and firefighters normally have an easy time reaching a developed area). When homes are on larger, 1 acre parcels, there's much more risk. And when they are on lots of 5 acres, it's extreme. Another factor is the slope of the land, again because of the accessibility issue but also, I believe, due to the effect of wind on the spreading of the fire. So if you are located in a hilly and/or rural area, you are probably in a State Fire Responsibility Area or a Wildland Fire Hazard Area.
By the way, sellers are obligated to inform buyers if the property is located in this zone. Seems fair, doesn't it?
What can be done to prevent a fire, or to minimize fire damage? Everyone should have smoke detectors in the hallway leading to each bedroom, at a minimum. Better: have a smoke detector in each bedroom, too - and replace the batteries every six months! A fire extinguisher in your home is a good idea as well, and in many cases it will lower your home owner's insurance bill.
If you are located in a State Fire Responsibility Area (SRA), (map available here for each county in California after accepting terms of service), you will be required to clear the brush 100 feet away from your home, have a spark arrestor with 1/2" wire mesh on your chimney and trim any branches that hang over your roof, among other things. A list of suggestions can be found at the Santa Clara County FireSafe Council's site. And for even more information, there's a 20 page handbook you can obtain online and at no cost from the same agency entitled, "Living With Fire in Santa Clara County" This excellent guide includes information on fire resistant plants, why you need 100 feet of clearance, information on roofing materials and fires, and even information on what to do if a fire approaches.
 One last thing: Independence Day is fast appraoching. Firecrackers and fireworks of the "safe and sane" (they don't leave the ground or explode) variety are not allowed in the unincorporated areas Santa Clara County or in the towns/cities except for Gilroy because of the risk of fire. Even so, each year, someone will trek to Gilroy or San Bruno or whereever they are sold and each year, someone's hurt and a fire is ignited. It's not worth it, not with our hillsides which are like kindling this time of year.
Be safe out there.
Apr. 25, 2007
 About three and a half years ago, I joined Intero Real Estate Services in Los Gatos. My manager, Brian Crane, knew that in life before real estate, I was a teacher (secondary religious education, to be precise). Figuring that I wasn't afraid of public speaking, and knowing that I live in town and am a Santa Clara Valley native, Brian asked me to occassionally share a little "local history" at office meetings. So I did some research, collected some stories, and began doing short talks on the history of the area from time to time.
 One of my favorite stories, or series of stories, was of mountain vintners who fought fire with wine.
That's right. The as the fires raged, water ran out, so they used the wine to fight the fires.
That might seem shocking initially - after all, it's the loss of a year's work. But if the vines were consumed by fire, it could take 20 years to get them back to their previous level of productivity.
And can you imagine how the townsfolk felt when the Los Gatos Creek ran red from Cabernet or Merlot or Claret? They probably thought it was the end of the world!
.jpg) I think it is in line with the entrepenurial spirit of our valley that even in fighting fires, these folks were truly thinking outside the box. They were willing to try something offbeat to protect the future.
Last Sunday was Earth Day. And it got me to thinking about what we can do. . . .
I know that we in Los Gatos can help create innovative solutions to ecological problems. Sometimes the answer is right in front of us and we only have to be thinking differently to recognize it. The townsfolk care about solar energy and other conservation approaches. "Fighting fire with wine" was a great concept that worked - twice. I think it's time for the creativity of Los Gatos to emerge to help solve the problems of the land in a new era. What are the solutions to today's environmental crises that are at our fingertips but we're just not recognizing yet?
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