Shwanika Narayan
San Francisco Chronicle
(MCT)
Apr. 11—A Home Depot store in San Jose is “a complete loss” after being ravaged by a huge blaze Saturday evening that sent up plumes of smoke so massive they could be seen from space, authorities said Sunday.
The fire was first reported near the store’s lumber supply section, but its cause remains under investigation, said Erica Ray, spokesperson for the San Jose Fire Department. Wisps of smoke continued to flow from the building Sunday evening and firefighters remained on the scene, but the fire was under control, authorities said. No injuries or fatalities were reported.
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The five-alarm blaze in South San Jose, across from the Westfield Oakridge mall, started around 5:30 pm on Saturday with flames ferociously engulfing the big-box store. Videos posted on social media showed embers falling from the ceiling amid thick smoke as panicked customers and employees yelled at customers to get out of the store. Pets at an adjacent Wagly pet hospital were evacuated in workers’ cars to other clinics. All pets were safely evacuated, Ray said.
The part of the building where Home Depot was located “is a complete loss,” though the remainder of the building and additional businesses located there were not damaged by the fire, but may have sustained water damage, she said.
A shelter-in-place advisory that went into effect Saturday evening was lifted before 1 p.m. Sunday for residents living near the store, after the Fire Department conducted air quality readings in the path of where residual smoke was drifting, she said.
Shwanika Narayan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email:shwanika.narayan@sfchronicle.comTwitter: @shwanika
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