April 14--SAN JOSE -- Firefighters spent Monday morning putting out hot spots on a five-alarm blaze that destroyed a former television news studio near downtown as arson investigators waited to get inside and begin their work.
Fire officials say as many as 30 homeless people occasionally stayed in the vacant building overnight but were unsure if anyone was trapped inside. Some of the homeless people who stayed in the former KNTV-11 building on Park Avenue told firefighters everyone got out safely, but fire officials won't be sure until they search the rubble, fire Capt. Cleo Doss said.
As of 10:30 a.m. Monday firefighters were still dousing water on hot spots and waiting for the building to "cool off" until allowing arson investigators to go inside, Doss said. The fire ignited at about 3 p.m. Sunday and quickly grew to five alarms.
Firefighters attempted to get inside to look for people, but the flames, smoke and heat drove them back.
Two people, apparently homeless individuals, got out of the building safely by the time firefighters arrived, according to fire Capt. Reggie Williams.
The fire was so large the cities of Santa Clara and Sunnyvale sent ladder companies to help the San Jose Fire Department. In all, about 100 firefighters were needed to extinguish the blaze.
The cause of the blaze is under investigation but firefighters are treating it "like a crime scene until we can prove otherwise," Doss said.
As five ladder companies poured thousands of gallons per minute onto the fire, dozens of onlookers, residents and news reporters gathered at the corner of Park and Montgomery Street and at a few more vantage points. More than a few onlookers took photos and posted the images on social media.
Ironically and luckily, Williams said, firefighters were familiar with the building. It sat across the street from the department's training facility. In 2012, the KNTV building -- vacant since 2004 -- was also used for fire training.
Two firefighters suffered minor injuries and were treated at the scene and released, Williams said.
Anyone with information about the fire may call the San Jose Fire Department at 408-277-8952.
Contact Mark Gomez at 408-920-5869. Follow him on Twitter @MarkMgomez.
Copyright 2014 - San Jose Mercury News
