Former Stanford football coach Tyrone Willingham nearly lost his home to fire, works with South Bay firefighters to share warning

LOS GATOS, Calif. (KGO) — After an incident threatened his home, the former Stanford football coach is warning others to protect their homes from fire.

Tyrone Willingham teamed up with the Santa Clara County Fire Department to spread the word.

A plot of land between Willingham and his neighbor's property caught fire on May 29.

“My landscaper came and told me something was going on,” Willingham said. “Then I run around the corner to see what he’s talking about and as soon as you turn the corner you see this wave of smoke.”

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Shadi Allen, who owns and lives next to the property, said contractors were working on a fence when their tools hit rebar and started a fire.

“The fire spread quickly,” she said. “Luckily, we had cut the grass about 10 days before this incident happened.”

A measure that Santa Clara County firefighters say helped save not only Allen's home, but the rest of his community.

“For any structures you have, we highly recommend cutting the grass below four inches, getting down into the dirt if you can, making sure your dead shrubs are removed. Basically what we What we want to do is eliminate all fuel in that area because that will help create that defensible space that we're looking for,” said Deputy Fire Marshal Jeremy Davis of the Santa Clara County Fire Department.

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Although California has seen a lot of rain in recent years, officials say more acres are at risk of burning due to the presence of more vegetation.

“When a fire happens, it moves so quickly that by the time fire crews get there, we're trying to find the boundaries and put it out. We are trying to stop the fire. So that's where the fire happens. defensible space really helps,” Davis said.

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Davis said whether you live near an open space like the one that burned or have a home in a city, firefighters are urging everyone this year to stay proactive.

“No matter what area you're in, if you have dry vegetation, if you add dead plants, it's highly recommended to mitigate them and get rid of them because that will always help,” he said. -he declares.

Willingham said this close call is a reminder to himself and hopes others also get the message to do the preventative work to protect homes.

“The most important thing is that you have a chance,” Willingham said, “to save yourself and your neighbors and your neighborhood.”

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