San Jose

Firefighters Extinguish 4-Alarm Fire in San Jose

The San Jose Fire Department said the blaze began as a vegetation fire near the business at Story and White roads.

A four-alarm fire started in vegetation behind an auto parts store in San Jose Wednesday afternoon and then spread to the store itself, a fire captain said.

The fire started around 1:30 p.m. in grass and shrubs behind the O'Reilly Auto Parts store at 1064 S. White Road and then spread to the store, San Jose Fire Capt. Christopher Salcido said.

The blaze was extinguished at around 2:30 p.m. Crews remained at the scene to look for hot spots.

The blaze initially prompted a three-alarm response but a fourth alarm was called because of the risk of chemical or other hazardous materials at the auto parts store, Salcido said. A hazardous incident team also responded because of all the toxic and flammable products inside.

"We're making sure we're using the most amount of caution that we can right now," he said.

A vehicle also caught fire less than 40 feet from the store, but Salcido said he didn't know if the car fire was somehow related to the larger blaze. The car was gutted.

More than 70 firefighters battled the blaze, and it took them about 40 minutes to knock it down.

No injuries have been reported in the fire, Salcido said, and the cause has not been determined.

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