Residents living near a large fire at an affordable housing construction site in Redwood City were issued evacuation orders by San Mateo County officials, but many chose to stay near their homes.
Several neighbors expressed concern about fires started by falling ash, resulting in “at least a dozen small fires … on roofs, fences, lawns,” according to Menlo Park Fire Chief Mark Lorenzo.
“You had people evacuating, guys on the roof, hosing down their houses to make sure their stuff didn’t catch on fire,” said Nathan, who lives near the fire. “It’s something you see in a movie or something that happens somewhere else, but you never realize it’s going to be so close to where you’re staying.”
“Everyone here is cool, so we all informed each other (about the fire),” said Alexis, who lives in an evacuated neighborhood. ‘We started spraying the roofs with water and everything. The fire brigade arrived quickly.’
Oscar Mendoza also decided to stay home because several burning materials and hot ash flew through the fire into his yard.
“There was a lot of stuff flying everywhere. The first thing we did was wet our cars and our roof,” Mendoza said. “They kicked everyone out, they started evacuating everyone. But honestly, man, as you can see, a lot of people didn’t want to evacuate because they had so much valuable stuff in their house… Everyone was just panicking, man. I saw a mother trying to go into the house because her family was there and I think they didn’t allow her to go there. But I think in this situation you don’t even think about going to your family.”
The San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office opened a temporary evacuation center at the Veterans Memorial Senior Center. Snacks, water and temporary shelter were provided for displaced families.
According to the county sheriff’s office, the temporary evacuation site was closed at 6 p.m. as most families were able to return home.
