San Jose Firefighters Search for Cause of Massive Fire That Gutted Home Depot Store
SAN JOSE (KPIX) -- Firefighters in San Jose on Sunday remained at the scene of the burned-out Home Depot store on Blossom Hill Road that was destroyed by a huge fire Saturday evening, investigating the cause of the blaze.
"There's some complexity there but there are some resources to assist," San Jose fire department battalion chief Bennett Yendrey said of the investigation. "It's just a testament to people's awareness and people's ability to stay calm and follow directions."
The fire at the Home Depot location that was first reported at 5:30 p.m. Saturday quickly grew into a five-alarm inferno, triggering a response by over 100 firefighters and sending a massive cloud billowing skyward that was visible for miles.
"You think of everything that's in there, it's not just a section of the building ... it's the whole thing," said Tony Orozco, a regular Home Depot customer at that location.
On Sunday morning, the San Jose fire department Twitter account posted that crews were still mopping up at the location making sure that the fire didn't reignite.
The fire was still smoldering and producing light smoke. People in the area impacted by the smoke were advised to continue to shelter in place with windows and doors closed.
"Certainly with the amount of material in this building and the variety of material there's tremendous potential for people to get burned, things to fall on people and thankfully that wasn't the case," Chief Yendrey said.
During a Sunday afternoon press conference, fire officials confirmed that the shelter-in-place order for the neighborhood had been lifted.
"I live really close near here so they said because of the nasty chemicals that were in the air, they said we weren't supposed to be outside, close all the windows and basically shelter in place," Schroeder told KPIX.
The fire was contained to the Home Depot location with neither of the neighboring business damaged. Officials said there were no reported injuries.
The San Jose fire investigation unit with assistance from a Santa Clara County Fire team will be continuing their investigation into the fire's origin and cause.
Fire officials said that the first call came in regarding a fire in the store's southeast corner where the lumber area is but noted that might not be where the fire started.
"When I just drove up this morning, that's what really jumped out to me," Yendrey said of the collapsed roof at the news conference on Sunday afternoon.
Fire crews were also collecting runoff water from the effort to put out the fire because of the hazardous materials at the store that were burned.
Officials asked that anyone with photos or video of the fire that might help with the investigation contact the San Jose fire department.
The San Jose fire department said that a Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office helicopter spotted two other fires while flying over Saturday's Home Depot blaze.
Officials are investigating whether the two fires spotted by the helicopter crew -- which were immediately reported to the San Jose fire department -- were connected to the Home Depot fire.
The fire was intense enough to show up on radar systems, according to the National Weather Service.
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