By Khalida Sarwari
The lives of Lulu and Sasha were spared in a blaze on Welker Court that burned down a home and displaced the pet bunny and mixed Labrador and their owners earlier this week.
Neither the pets nor the occupants were harmed in the fire, which scorched the roof of a home at 45 Welker Court on Tuesday morning.
Troy Gibson, a 47-year-old construction worker, was inside the home when the fire started. He was heading to the shower in the master bedroom when he heard crackling sounds. He ran outside, saw the flames and tried to put out the fire, but became overwhelmed with the clouds of smoke and decided to call 911, said his girlfriend Kristi Rupprecht.
Moments later, dozens of firemen scrambled to and fro in an attempt to salvage the property inside the residence. They were able to grab a camera and jewelry, but weren’t able to save a TV, clothes and stereo system, said Rupprecht, who was at work at Trader Joe’s in Los Altos when she got a call from Gibson telling her the house was on fire.
In the end, the roof was completely gone, and the damage to the structure and contents of the home was estimated at about $250,000.
After two years of living in the home, a four-bedroom residence they were renting at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac, Gibson, Rupprecht and their pets were displaced. The couple is now living in a two-bedroom suite in San Jose and searching for another house in Campbell.
“I loved that house; it was perfect for my kids,” said Rupprecht, who shares custody of her three children. “I’m just thankful that we’re all fine. It’s just material things that need to be replaced.”
Dennis Johnsen, a chief investigator for the Santa Clara County Fire Department, said the fire appeared to have been caused by a discarded cigarette in the back yard that was exacerbated by strong winds.
“The fire went up a wall and up through an attic vent,” said Johnsen. “The wind pushed the fire and made it bigger.”
It didn’t help, he said, that the roof was made out of wood, a material that is prone to fires.
Johnsen advised home-owners to opt for the comparatively safer asphalt shingles when upgrading their homes.
“They’re not 100 percent fireproof, but they’re very fire-resistant compared to wood shingles,” he said.
