A fire destroyed a building under construction in downtown Morgan Hill early Wednesday morning, according to Cal Fire.
The blaze at an under-construction townhome development in the area of Depot and Fifth streets was contained to the building of origin but forced brief evacuations from neighboring townhomes, fire officials said.
βIt was huge,β said Eileen Fernandez, who was forced to evacuate. βAnd it was right next door as you can see right here. So it was scary. But luckily nothing crossed over the street and everyone was evacuated.β
The fire was caught on surveillance video from a home remodeling company across the street. The co-owner believes the fire started just after 1 a.m.
"I'm in the business. You hate to see 3 or 4 weeks worth of work shattered," said David Domenichini, co-owner of Studio 38 Designs and DR Domenichini Construction. "We dont know what's going on. These things don't frighten me; my wife said it's scary. But we dont know if it was some temporary power that accidentally ignited it or if it was something less accidental."
Construction crew members told NBC Bay Area the fire is a disappointing and shocking setback that puts them behind schedule. The project, called The Lumberyard, calls for 49 "modern flats and townhomes" at the former site of Hale Lumber.
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βI was the first one on scene, I arrived about 12:05 a.m. to find a fully-involved apartment complex under construction,β said Carlos Alcantar, Cal Fire Morgan Hill fire marshal. βAs soon as I got at scene our objectives were to do evacuations on the neighboring buildings and then also protect the exposures.β
Fire officials and police remained at the scene Wednesday morning to assess the damage.
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No injuries were reported, and the cause of the fire is under investigation.