Firefighters Knock Down Brush Fire at North San Jose Homeless Encampment
SAN JOSE (CBS SF) -- Firefighters in the South Bay were able to extinguish a brush fire burning at a homeless encampment in North San Jose Wednesday afternoon.
The fire broke out at around 12:30 p.m. near North 1st Street and Component Drive on land near the PayPal campus, authorities said. Video posted on social media indicated that the fire started in a homeless encampment near the intersection.
The fire spread to nearby brush and is producing a thick column of smoke. At least one vehicle appeared to be involved in the fire.
The fire scorched about five acres and at least one RV trailer was consumed by flames. Fire crews took about 30 minutes to put out the fire.
"Our initial priority was assigning resources to the fire to the south of us that was wind driven at that point," said San Jose Fire Battalion Chief Patrick Chung. "We were concerned about embers getting into the larger pine trees. Conducting more heat and potentially catching any structures on fire."
There are no injuries reported and the fire is under investigation
