A man who loved to feed pigeons and cats died in a San Jose fire early Tuesday morning in a two-alarm fire that started in a guest house behind the main residence.
San Jose Fire Capt. Rob Brown said the fire was reported in the 400 block of South Willard Avenue about 12:15 a.m. and was knocked down in about 30 minutes. While authorities hadn't immediately gone inside the house to determine who died, a relative of the family who lived in the main house believed it was a 45-year-old tenant who died in the guest house.
Jose Aguilar, a relative of the 6-person family who escaped injury in the main house, said the man who rented the guest house was someone who loved to feed pigeons and cats. He had known him - and joked around with him - for five years.
"It's hard knowing he died," Aguilar said.
Another person inside a second home was taken to the hospital for medical reasons not related to the fire, Brown said.
What started the fire is under investigation.
Less than six hours later, another fire broke out at a mobile home, which spread to a nearby warehouse at South 24th and East San Antonio streets about 5:45 a.m. behind the Greater St. John Baptist Church.
