40 evacuated after 3 vehicles catch fire at apartment building in Campbell

CAMPBELL, Calif. (KGO) -- A fire that erupted early this morning in a van damaged three parked vehicles outside of an apartment complex in Campbell and prompted the Santa Clara County Fire Department to evacuate 40 people, a battalion chief said.

At 4 a.m., county firefighters were dispatched to the driveway of an apartment building at 135 Union Ave., only a couple of blocks from the department's Campbell fire station, Battalion Chief Kendall Pearson said.

Firefighters drove down the building's long driveway, just east of state Highway 17 and the Los Gatos Creek, found the three vehicles on fire and ordered 40 residents from 15 apartments in the building to come out, Pearson said.

The gas tank in a vehicle beside the van where the fire started was leaking fuel and a hazardous materials crew placed plastic sheeting over a storm drain to capture and bag the flammable liquid so it would not flow into the nearby creek, according to Pearson.

Fire crews doused the blaze, which severely damaged the van, a sedan and an SUV, at about 4:15 a.m. and permitted people to return to their apartments between 5 a.m. and 5:15 a.m., the battalion chief said.

Investigators were still at the scene of the fire this morning. The cause of the blaze has not been determined, Pearson said.