Brush Fire Extinguished Near Sikh Temple In San Jose
SAN JOSE (KPIX 5) -- A brush fire sent hundreds of people scrambling to get out of a Sikh temple in San Jose on Sunday. Cal Fire and local fire crews moved in on the blaze with a big response team to prevent it from escalating further.
The fire started just before 2 p.m. Sunday afternoon in a drainage ditch right next to the Sikh Gurdwara Temple the East San Jose Foothills, near Quimby Road and Chiboya Road.
The fire rose quickly to a two-alarm blaze because there was a heavy brush near it as well as eucalyptus trees. There was a steep incline and homes and structures nearby as well.
Fire crews doused the flames quickly--it took 60 firefighters 90 minutes to contain the blaze.
The total area burned was 4 acres. No buildings were lost and there were no reported injuries.
There was still a lot of residual heat in the embers as crews worked to douse the flames through Sunday afternoon.
There were no official evacuations, but the Sikh temple had a few thousand people inside of it, and the temple's elders announced a self-evacuation to remain cautious while wildfires ravage the rest of California.
"Surreal experience you know, because we've been looking at all the fires happening in California. And suddenly this happens when it's so close to you. I don't know what's going on with the environment," said Karam Singh of San Jose.
Investigators were at the fire's point of origin near the base of the hill, but they have no word yet on the cause.
