San Jose

4 People, Several Pets Displaced After Dryer Fire Rips Through San Jose Home

A fire that started in a dryer ripped through a single-family home in San Jose Sunday afternoon, displacing four people, a fire captain said.

Capt. Mike Van Elgort said firefighters responded to a report of a fire on Laurinda Drive at 4:03 p.m.

Fire crews arrived to find heavy fire damage to the front half of the L-shaped, ranch-style home, Van Elgort said.

The house's fence initially caught on fire, threatening an adjacent home, and a second alarm was called at 4:15 p.m., Van Elgort said.

The on-scene crews were able to extinguish the fence fire quickly and Van Elgort said fire crews ended up canceling the second alarm. The fire was knocked down at 4:45 p.m., Van Elgort said.

There were no injuries reported.

The fire started in the dryer and then spread to the main body of the single-story house, Van Elgort said.

He said two adults were home when the fire broke out and they first tried to extinguish the fire themselves. They escaped from the house before firefighters arrived, Van Elgort said.

Van Elgort said the family, which includes two teenagers and several pets, declined assistance from the American Red Cross.

There is no monetary estimate for the damages, but Van Elgort said the house sustained heavy damage and is "certainly unlivable and uninhabitable."

"It will take a great deal to rebuild," Van Elgort said. "They lost a lot of property. It was pretty much everything they had."

He added, "Thankfully, no one was hurt."

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