Fire destroys two townhouses, damages third

Thanks for the quick post on your site. I'm hearing all the sirens and helicopters around here, so it was good to find out what was going on...

Thank you very--very much for posting this very important news item.
Now on to another very important side of this fire story.

Alright when--when--when will these very dangerous shake roofs be finally REMOVED from the ENTIRE state of California???
How many more of these very SCARY firestorms will it take before the California Legislature wakes up and protects the public by doing its job??
The "Freeway Complex Fire" of Nov 2008 out of Socal really SCACRED the daylights out of me. I really--really do NOT want to see a similar event like that up here in the SF Bay Area.

thanks i was wondering about the sirens

thanks for the timely updates!

Thanks for getting the news up quickly. I could see the smoke as I came down toward Woodside Road from Canada.

This rapid reporting is great, allowing us to monitor the situation without contributing to traffic problems.

By the way, the shake roofs of all 77 townhouses in the Sharon Hills complex are now in being replaced. Susan Gale Court is among the last of the scheduled sections, with work planned to start later in July.

Also thanks for posting so quickly - was amazed to find it so fast with a google search of "Sharon Heights fire"

Also try searching for "Menlo Park" on Twitter for real time updates and photos.

Wow you guys sure earned you money today, thanks for being there. I vote give them a raise.

Shake roofs have been around sharon heights homes probably going as far back as when sharon height was developed in the early 60's. So I don't think they will be leaving any time soon. Maybe after today new homes will be built with something else rather then shingles. Probably not. Usually takes a hard lesson like a house fire for some people to get with the program.

Lets hope all residents had sufficient insurance and have found a place to stay until that is sorted out.

A shake roof did not cause this fire and did not cause it to go out of control according to everything that has been reported here and on ABC news so far.

It is not the job of the California Legislature to determine what people build their homes out of. Leave that to the insurance companies.

where is peter carpenter?????? 2 Firefighters burned

I'm so sorry for the people who lost their homes and belongings. I'd like to help by donating clothing and other items they might need. Suggestions?

This is the first time I've gotten a news alert like this. It's a very good idea.

In defense of wood shake roofing: Fire retardant wood shakes can be less burnable than
composition roofing. I have tried burning fire retardant wood shakes in an outdoor fire pit and could not get them to ignite. I viewed the house that burned this morning and talked to
a firefighter. I observed and he agreed, the shakes did not play a big part in the fire. Non
retardant wood of any kind is another story, of course.

I am very grateful for the outcome and the work of the fire fighters. It concerns me though that one of the respondents stated, in effect, that the fire fighters deserve the raise they want because of this. So, when a public servant does his/her job they "deserve" an 11% raise? I don't get a raise whenever I do my job well. In fact, many of us in the private sector are getting salary and benefit cuts while working harder than ever before.

they want a raise? how do we know they arent racketeering?

Jake asked "where is Peter Carpenter?"
Here is my posting on this fire and the response:

Posted by Peter Carpenter, a resident of the Atherton: Lindenwood neighborhood, 22 hours ago

I have just returned from the five alarm fire in Sharon Heights - I think we can all be very proud of the professional response by more than five different fire agencies to this incident. Given the wood shake roofs this could easily have taken out the whole neighborhood had there been higher temperatures and winds.

Hats off to a job well done by all concerned.

**********************
I would add that our firefighters did a great job - the job they were hired for, the job they were trained for and the job that they are paid for. It is a well respected saving amongst those of us who have been professional firefighters (I was a Smokejumper as well as a volunteer firefighter) that the biggest risk we take is the day we take our oath of office and thereafter we are simply (big understatement) doing the job we vowed to do.

great lazy firefighters said uncle