2 alarm fire in Sunnyvale destroys several businesses
SUNNYVALE, Calif. (KGO) -- Some business owners in Sunnyvale are finding out their building is condemned. A fire tore through a strip mall at Lakeside Drive near Titan Way.
This happened in darkness overnight, but now with the sun up the major damage can be seen to the building. The future of these businesses is now in the hands of the insurance companies.
The flames were huge when we drove up to Lakeside Drive at Oakmead Parkway in Sunnyvale just after 4 a.m.
Firefighters tried to go inside the building to find the fire, but too much smoke forced them outside. They then put holes in the roof for ventilation and started putting water on the flames from their ladder and below on the ground. Firefighters knocked down the fire around 4:35 a.m.
"It has a bit of a parapet that extends around the entire property and it seems like the fire was in there ripping pretty good," said Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety Battalion Chief Craig Anderson.
The city of Sunnyvale condemned the building. There were 9 businesses, including A Touch of Silk Hair and Nail Salon, Teanado, PC Care computer repair shop and a transportation service. The owners arrived to find a mess.
"Water, smoke damage for sure," said Fady Salem, Sal's Airport & Limousine Service
Sal's Airport & Limousine Service works with several local hotels and tech companies, like Intel and Cisco, for their transportation needs. Their vehicles were untouched by the flames, but the future is unknown for the business and their 25-plus employees.
"No clue. No clue yet. I mean we're walking into a big mess. We have no idea what we're going to do... I mean we're still caught by surprise," said Salem.
Firefighters believe the fire started around the computer repair shop. Investigators are here looking for the cause, but they don't believe it is suspicious.
