Firefighters battle 6 active fires near east Milpitas hills

SANTA CLARA COUNTY (KGO) -- Six fires are actively burning in the hills east of Milpitas.

Firefighters have been fighting the blazes since noon Saturday.

The investigation continues and firefighters will be working throughout the night, creating a perimeter to contain these fires. So far they're 40% contained.

Two columns of smoke were all a Spring Valley Fire Chief needed to see to notify CalFire.

"As he made his way in and as the dispatch was going out for engines to respond then he started to see a third, and then a fourth. Eventually, we ended up with six separate fires," said CalFire, Santa Clara Fire prevention specialist, Pam Temmermand.

The call came in at 11:57 am.

These aerial shots by CalFire shows the fire on the hills east of Milpitas:

Air tankers were released and ground resources began to contain the fires. Firefighters are not ruling out the possibility of arson.

"Arson is always a possibility in something like this. But, you also have the possibility of having cars driving along the road and you can have catalyst convertors kick stuff out of the exhaust and we have road starts like that as

well," said Temmermand.

According to CalFire all six fires combined have burned a total of 128 acres in the area.

The fires are burning near the Calaveras reservoir east of Milpitas in the open grassy area.

No homes or buildings are threatened by the fires. Up in the hills Todd and Cheryl Flesner say they're concerned but ready.

"It's shocking and it's a concern for our homes and our livelihoods," said San Jose resident, Todd Flesner. His wife, Cheryl Flesner said "You collect loved ones, pets and photo albums and you get ready to evacuate if you need to. So, sure its concerning but it's part of living up here."

On Friday, CalFire reported two other fires.

Luz Pena: Eight fires in 2 days, is that normal?

Fire prevention specialist, Pam Temmermand: It's not normal but that's why it's under investigation. We are trying to figure out what happened and where it takes us.