Neighbors rally to help 9 San Jose State students displaced by fire

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- Nine San Jose State students who were burned out of their home on North 9th Street are discovering the kindness of strangers.

With not much more than the clothes on their backs, these students say they have a lot to be grateful for.

A postal worker who happened to be covering this route for the first time saw the students in distress and wanted to help.

"I came back after I was off the clock, asked them what they needed," Maria Marquez said.

A neighbor two doors down spent all day on the phone, rounding up businesses to donate food, mattresses and more.

"They're all struggling students, they need that help. They already have tuition to pay for, and they just lost everything," neighbor Kelly Nazzisa said.

The house is a total loss after two fires erupted in the span of ten hours.

The first fire at 1 p.m. scorched the second floor unit of the duplex and a second fire at 3 a.m. tore through the attic.

All nine students, juniors at San Jose State, weren't home at the time.

"We started getting calls and text messages and a huge picture of our house already starting to burn on the side," student Kyra Costs said.

"It was really stressful but we are trying to keep it together," Joel Garcia said.

Some question if fire crews did all they could to knock down the first fire that may have led to the second blaze.

"We used thermal imaging cameras to check for any hot spots. None were found. Crews stayed for several hours," San Jose Fire Dept. Capt. Peter Caponio said.

The fire department is calling it two separate incidents until investigators figure out what happened.

Meanwhile, a GoFundMe site has been set up for the students as they figure out their next steps.