Residential, Residential High Rise San Jose, CA – Early morning fire in high-rise apartment building held in check by sprinkler system July 19, 2016 viking210 Roughly 40 to 60 residents in a 12-story high-rise apartment building in downtown San Jose are without a home for at least a week after a Sunday morning fire, San Jose fire officials said. A faulty light fixture sparked the blaze at 4:22 a.m., immediately activating the building’s sprinkler system, San Jose Fire Department Captain Mitch Matlow said. “The sprinkler system did it’s job,” Matlow said. The fire, which was reported at Sixth and East Santa Clara streets, was extinguished quickly, but cleaning up the water damage will keep residents out of the building for at least a week, according to Matlow. “The people were sheltered in a VTA bus for a while, then they had to go back in and get their belongings because it’s going to be about a week before these people can come back to their homes,” Matlow said. “They have to dry the building out and make sure all the electrical is working before they can reoccupy the building.” The American Red Cross will temporarily house and feed the displaced residents, according to Demetrious McCarthy from the Red Cross. That shelter is up and running at Burnett Middle School in San Jose, the Red Cross said.
