5 displaced in 2-alarm house fire in Monte Sereno

MONTE SERENO, Calif. (KGO) -- Firefighters battled a two-alarm house fire in the Santa Clara community of Monte Sereno. The multimillion dollar house will be red-tagged, but those who lived there are thankful they got out alive.

Santa Clara County fire crews arrived at the home on Saratago-Los Gatos Boulevard just after 2:30 a.m. Tuesday.

Smoke alarms didn't wake up the five people sleeping inside. Instead, it was a loud popping sound.

"I was thinking gunfire at first. And after that, all I hear is, 'You need to get out of the house! You need to get out of the house!'" explained Michael Pierce, who lived inside.

The sound of gunfire was actually 50 to 60 spray paint cans exploding.

Two artists live in the home, one of whom uses spray paint. The $2.5 million home was also their studio. They both lost everything in the fire.

"Everything from all my son's baby pictures, all my paint, I had quite a lot of paint. I did have quite a bit of canvas. Just everything - like my whole life basically," said Kris Krikava, the homeowner.

"I'm going to have to buy new tools. So it will be take stuff out of storage, sell another painting and buy some more paint brushes. Buy some more oils," said Jessica Viacomini, who also lived in the house.

Firefighter say the cause of the fire may be filed as undetermined because it may be too dangerous for the investigator to go inside.

In fact, fire crews battled the flames from outside, fearing it was too dangerous to go inside. Eventually, the second floor did collapse.

No injuries were reported. The Red Cross is providing assistance to some of the victims.