Maggie Angst, Grace Hase
Bay Area News Group
(TNS)
A five-alarm fire erupted Saturday evening at a San Jose Home Depot, sending a thick plume of gray smoke into the air and forcing widespread evacuations.
在下午五点半左右。周六,调度程序numerous calls from employees and partons about a commercial structure fire at the Home Depot store located at 920 Blossom Hill Road, according to San Jose Fire Batallion Chief Brad Cloutier. The store, which is located in a shopping center across from the Westfield Oakridge Mall, quickly went up in flames, sending customers and employees fleeing.
At least 30 fire units with 100 firefighters responded to the scene, some of which were deployed to a neighborhood south of the store in order to prevent any damage to nearby homes. There have been no reports of injuries or missing people, Cloutier said during a news briefing at 8 p.m. Saturday.
Other nearby businesses, including Petco and the Wagly Veterinary Hospital and Pet Campus, were also forced to evacuate in haste.
FDIC 2022 Preview: Commercial Fireground Operations
Rocky Olivares, who used to work at the Home Depot store, said he immediately responded to the scene when he heard about the fire to make sure his former coworkers were safe. When he arrived, Home Depot had already been evacuated but he said it appeared the flames were spreading to the Wagly Veterinary Hospital.
Concerned about the employees and pets still inside, Olivares said he ran into the pet hospital and began helping get people and pets out safely. Some of the dogs escaped on their own, he said, adding that he was unsure whether or not employees caught them before they made a run for it.
“It was smoky in the building,” he said. “You could see but there was a thermal layer and there was already a layer of smoke.”
Cloutier called Home Depot “pretty much a total loss.” “The roof has pretty much collapsed,” he said, adding that materials inside like paint thinner, lumber and other flammable materials made this blaze uniquely challenging to extinguish.
The neighboring veterinary hospital received some smoke and water damage from firefighters working to prevent the fire spread, he said, but the extent of the damage is unclear.
Officials were recommending Saturday evening that residents who live or work in the area shelter in place and shutter all doors and windows to minimize smoke inhalation.
The Home Depot fire, which put off a hefty plume of smoke that could be seen across the South Bay, broke out several hours afteranother massive blaze eruptedSaturday afternoon at an East Bay port, similarly enveloping nearby communities in thick smoke.
Shortly before 1 p.m. Saturday, a fire was reported at the Port of Benicia. The fire was quickly elevated from a three to a four-alarm fire as it engulfed a long, wooden dock in the Carquinez Strait near the Benicia-Martinez I-680 bridge. No injuries were reported, according to officials.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
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