Off-Duty California Firefighters Drop Politics For Apartment Fire

SANDRA GONZALES
Contra Costa Times

Two off-duty San Jose firefighters walking precincts to try to defeat two city ballot measures happened to spot flames at a fourplex apartment Sunday morning -- and immediately began working.

They grabbed a garden hose, shut off the utilities and evacuated the apartments, San Jose fire Capt. Barry Stallard said.

And, as it so happened, a fire engine was just four minutes away on a medical aid call. So the engine raced to the 9:53 a.m. fire on Via Monte Drive.

Within an hour, the blaze was contained.

One firefighter, however, suffered a shoulder injury when he fell through a ceiling, and a resident cut his hand when he punched through the glass to get a fire extinguisher.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, and most of the damage was confined to the apartment where the fire started, Stallard said.

The two firefighters were walking precincts as part of an effort by city public employee unions to urge voters to defeat Measures V and W, which city officials say are needed to control pay and pension costs: