Preventing property damage and potentially a much larger fire from spreading, seven poker players and neighbors came out of their homes with shovels and buckets of water.

"It was big and could have been huge if we didn't get to it quickly," said Roaten Hinson, one of the neighbors who helped put out the fire. Hinson was hosting a poker party at his home, and when the players saw the fire, they ran out to help.

From there, they shoveled dirt and dumped water onto the fire. By the time the Santa Clara County fire department arrived, the neighbors had extinguished much of the fire, which burned a 20-foot by 20-foot parcel of land, said Lynn Caldwell, a fire department battalion chief.

Novitiate Park borders St. Joseph's Hill Open Space Preserve, a county park, and fires in these areas can develop quickly and get out of control, Caldwell said.

But Jak Van Anda, who lives on Euclid Avenue, is convinced that the fire could have been prevented if the town had just returned his phone calls.

Van Anda said that every year, neighbors call the town and ask someone to cut the brush, which borders their homes on Euclid and Jones roads.

"Every year, it requires persistence and a phone call," Hinson said.

Van Anda said that he and another neighbor called the town several times in the past month, but did not get a response.

"I was very irritated by not getting any calls back. It was like we were being ignored," Hinson said.

Van Anda said he called twice, including two days before the fire, and that another neighbor called one month before the fire.

However, John Curtis, director of parks and public works, said the town's phone records indicated differently.

"Our sense was that they called once," Curtis said.

Curtis said normally the town cuts the vegetation earlier in the fire season, but the late rain pushed back that process. He also said that the town does not have the proper equipment to cut the large vegetation, so it has to borrow a larger mower from Caltrans.

Unfortunately, he said, the mower was not available at an earlier time.

"That's a very rough area, and it takes a different type of mower to cut it. [The Caltrans mower] was in for repair," Curtis said.

Town officials also told Van Anda they did not have the proper equipment.

"We don't want to hear that because we know we live in a prime fire area," Van Anda said. Hinson and Van Anda mow the brush near their homes about twice a year, Van Anda said.

A crew was sent out July 13, one day after the fire, to cut the vegetation with the town's inadequate mowers, Curtis said. When Caltrans' mower is repaired, Curtis will send a crew to mow the area again with the proper equipment.

"The fire didn't exactly catch us off guard, because in our usual pattern this isn't the time to start cutting, but maybe this was a wakeup call that we should be cautious this season," Curtis said.

Although this wasn't the first time community members have helped fight a fire, Caldwell said it is important that they continue to pay attention to their surroundings.

"They're our eyes and ears. Like any police lead, people out in the public give us the heads up," Caldwell said.