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Three-alarm fire partially destroys condo complex
One resident jumped from second story
By Jeff Kearns
A three-alarm fire that broke out in a San Benito Avenue condo complex early in the morning of July 10 kept crews busy until dawn as the blaze in the attic re-ignited the fire.
The fire burned the roof off the three-story building, leaving the tenants who lived it its four units temporarily homeless.
After the call came in at 2:59 a.m., a total of 11 trucks, a hazmat unit and 60 personnel were called to the fire. It took crews 2 1/2 hours to control the blaze, which broke out in an upstairs bedroom at 412 San Benito Ave. Crews also used more than 100 oxygen bottles in the course of fighting the fire.
One resident who was home when the fire broke out jumped from a second-story window before fire crews arrived. She was taken to the hospital for observation and released in time to get back to the scene before the flames were out.
The cause of the fire has not been determined, but the county Arson Task Force (a team of arson investigators from around the county) has been called in to investigate. A private fire investigator has also been hired by one tenant's insurance company.
The four units in the complex are split between two buildings and divided by a 15-foot-wide breezeway. When the fire broke out in one building, it quickly spread to the other. The buildings have shingle roofs and shingle siding, which helped the fire spread.
The fires rolled out of the windows and burned inside the attics of each building, making it hard for firefighters to get a handle on where the fire was coming from. The raging attic fires kept fire crews busy, re-igniting five times during the night.
The blaze caused $1.4 million of damage to the building and $500,000 of damage to the contents of the condos, a spokesperson for the Santa Clara County Fire District said.
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Los Gatos, California Since 1881
