A San Jose firefighter was slightly injured and four families were displaced in a three-alarm fire that destroyed an apartment building in South San Jose.
San Jose fire crews had the fire on the 700 block of Warring Drive contained by about 4 p.m. Friday afternoon, fire Capt. Cleo Doss said.
The San Jose Fire Department responded to the fire at an apartment complex near Blossom Hill Road in the city's Almaden section shortly after 2 p.m.
Firefighters said they faced special challenges putting out the fire because of the construction of the roof.
"It was a double roof with metal and composite on top of that,” Doss said. “So it made it a real challenge for our crews to access and ventilate it and to release the hot air and gasses from the fire upstairs.”
The fire began in a downstairs unit of a 4-unit apartment building, fire officials said. By the time firefighters arrived, the fire had spread to all four units. Firefighters searched the entire building and found no one inside.
The building was completely destroyed by the fire, Doss said, but firefighters were able to prevent the fire from spreading to more of the 4-unit buildings in the apartment complex.
The American Red Cross has arrived at the scene to help the nine displaced adults and children find new shelter, Doss said.
One firefighter was treated and released at the scene for smoke inhalation and a second person may have been injured in the area, though not from the fire, Doss said.
Local
City fire answered the first two alarms and Santa Clara County firefighters answered the third alarm, Doss said.
In all, 50 to 60 firefighters from 15 units were battling the fire at its peak. Crews were able to prevent flames from spreading to neighboring apartment buildings on the block, according to Doss.
Firefighters do not yet know what caused the blaze, he said.
Bay City News contributed to this report.
