UPDATE: 5-Alarm Warehouse Fire Blazes Near Highway 101 in San Jose

UPDATE 12:45 PM

Firefighters have contained a dramatic five-alarm warehouse fire in San Jose that shut down two schools and prompted the evacuation of nearby homes this morning, a fire captain said.

The fire was reported at a 125,000-square-foot warehouse at East Julian and North 28th streets at 5:37 a.m., San Jose fire Capt. Cleo Doss said.

Fire Capt. Barry Ehlers said the owner had repeatedly built on additions to the original building. He said much of the warehouse space is vacant but that the building houses a handful of companies including plumbing, hay, sheetrock and insulation businesses.

A part of the building that collapsed is marked with a sign that reads "Dave's Hay Barn." A sign on another part of the building reads "Vintage Roof Tile."

Ehlers said the fire was reported by two Vintage Roof Tile employees this morning. Both workers got out safely. The employees told firefighters that there were tanks inside the building that contained propane to fuel forklifts, and Ehlers said that may explain why a number of explosions were heard while the fire was burning.

The fire was contained at about 8:30 a.m. but hot spots continued to burn for hours. There were about 100 firefighters at the scene at the height of the blaze, Doss said.

No injuries have been reported, but Ehlers said four or five homes on nearby West Court were evacuated as a precaution.

In addition, a shelter-in-place order was issued for the area. As of 10:30 a.m., the order was still in effect for an apartment complex and houses on Wooster Avenue.

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(Original story)
Firefighters are battling a five-alarm blaze at a warehouse in San Jose this morning, according to a fire dispatcher.

The fire was reported at a building at the intersection of North 28th and Julian streets shortly before 5:30 a.m., fire officials said.

As of 7:20 a.m. the fire was continuing to rage out of control and was sending a large plume of black smoke into the air.

The site of the blaze is near U.S. Highway 101, and although the highway is not closed, the California Highway Patrol is advising motorists to use state Highway 87 instead.

"Anybody who's driving by the fire who is getting through on 101 should keep their windows rolled up and not allow any outside air to come into the vehicle," CHP Officer Ron Simmons said.

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