Sixteen residents were displaced by a three-alarm fire at a large apartment complex in San Jose early this morning, fire officials said.
The fire completely destroyed four units of the eight-unit building, and left the other apartments with smoke and fire damage, said San Jose fire Capt. Mike Van Elgort.
Firefighters responded to reports of the fire near the corner of Madden Avenue and North Capitol Avenue at 1:45 a.m.
When they arrived, firefighters found that the fire had already spread to multiple floors of the building, Van Elgort said.
Firefighters had controlled the fire by 3 a.m., but as of 4:30 a.m. were still on the scene doing clean up work.
Five residents of the building were treated for injuries including minor burns, but no one was seriously injured, Van Elgort said.
Van Elgort said that he was grateful that no one was fatally injured. "A large fire in an apartment complex especially in the middle of the night is always a dangerous situation," he said.
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The fire caused between $600,000 and $750,000 in damage, Van Elgort said.
He said the displaced residents, who are primarily seniors, are being assisted with temporary shelter by the Red Cross.
Firefighters had not yet determined the cause of the fire as of early this morning.
