Apr. 10—Firefighters battled a five-alarm blaze that ripped through a Home Depot Saturday evening in south San Jose across from Westfield Mall, the city's fire department said.
The fire at the Home Depot store on the 900 block of Blossom Hill Road created massive plumes of smoke that drifted south past Gilroy and could be seen from miles away, according to the fire department's radio feed.
Embers from the blaze were found near the hillside south of the fire, fire responders said, though no spot fires had apparently formed.
The San Jose Fire Department tweeted that no injuries were reported and urged people to avoid the area. The cause of the fire remained under investigation.
A Wagly pet hospital adjacent to the Home Depot was evacuated, the fire department said, and that anyone looking to reunite with their pets "should head to Golfland" on Winfield Boulevard.
The fire department said that anyone who lived or worked near the fire and smelled smoke to shelter in place. Videos posted to social media showed items inside the Home Depot exploding as the fire progressed while employees screamed at people inside to get out of the building.
"Close all doors and windows to minimize smoke from getting inside. Crews in defensive fire attack working to contain fire from spreading from unit of origin," the fire department tweeted.
The National Weather Service tweeted that the searing heat signature from the fire was detected from a satellite orbiting the earth.
The blaze was the second big fire in the Bay Area responders were battling Saturday. Earlier in the afternoon, a four-alarm blaze teared through the Amports docks in Benicia.
Ricardo Cano is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @ByRicardoCano
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