Firefighters were dispatched to the blaze at Baja Tires at 5:33 a.m. Tuesday. The fire quickly escalated to a third-alarm response, bringing more than 50 firefighters to the scene, according to Battalion Chief Leah Diaz of the San Jose Fire Department.
When crews arrived, they encountered heavy fire conditions and flames coming through the roof of the business.
"When the first units arrived on scene, they had heavy fire conditions," Diaz said. "They had flames through the roof of Baja Tires here. But luckily, and due to the good efforts and aggressive firefighting tactics of our firefighters in San Jose, they were able to protect the exposed buildings, which means they were able to protect the businesses here to the left and here to the right with just moderate damage from mostly water and fire. So just based on the good efforts of our firefighters, we were able to salvage a lot of the antiques and things in that business and also keep this fire under control."
The fire left behind charred vehicles and extensive damage. Baja Tires appeared to be a total loss, with significant destruction to the property.
Diaz said firefighters conducted defensive operations and were unable to enter the building to battle the fire from inside.
"Currently we have knocked down the fire, and because this was a defensive operation, we were not able to make access into the structure to fight the fire," Diaz said.
Crews have remained at the scene checking for hot spots.
The cause of the fire is not currently known.