Fire Destroys West San José Apartments

On Thursday, March 20, 2008 at 5:00 p.m., units of the San José Fire Department were dispatched to 7200 Bollinger Road on the city's west side for multiple reports of heavy smoke from a two-story, multi-unit, residential structure.

Upon their arrival firefighters discovered two second floor units fully involved in fire and immediately struck a second-alarm. It took firefighters over an hour to completely extinguish the flames which left several residents homeless and one man with injuries.

San José firefighters, assisted by units of the Santa Clara County Fire Department, were able to prevent the fire from spreading throughout the building, but several other apartment units did suffer smoke and water damage.

Submitted by: SJFD Photographer, Craig Allyn Rose

Vacant IBM Building Destroyed by Fire

When a passerby stopped at San José Fire Station 35 at around 1:30 AM on Saturday, March 8, 2008 to alert Captain Trent Engler and his C-Shift crew of a fire on the old IBM property, Engler and his firefighters departed their station to find a massive column of smoke and fire coming from the center of the abandoned 69,000 square foot structure.

Captain Engler immediately requested a second-alarm to bolster the full-first alarm that had already been struck. A third-alarm was then struck some 15 minutes later due to access difficulties and a lack of immediately available water. Crews were forced to extend extremely long hose lays to supply the multiple hand lines, master streams, and portable monitors that were placed into service.

Over 80 firefighters battled the blaze for several hours before the majority of the flames were doused. The complex itself was the subject of some dispute after historical preservationists suggested the buildings be saved due to their association with early advances in information storage technology and the unique architectural design by John Bolles.

Two firefighters received minor sprains, and the cause of the blaze remains under investigation.

Submitted by: SJFD Photographer, Craig Allyn Rose