8 businesses affected after 3-alarm fire damages South Bay strip mall, SJFD says

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Crews contained a three-alarm blaze that damaged a strip mall early Thursday morning at San Jose's Alum Rock district, according to fire officials.

The strip mall, located in the 2600 block of Alum Rock Avenue, had eight businesses affected by the fire reported at 3:46 a.m., according to the San Jose Fire Department.

At one point there were more than 60 firefighters on scene who worked to fight the fire and monitor hot spots.

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They also were worked on the roof of the building to stop the fire from spreading to other units in this strip mall.

San Jose fire's deputy chief said this type of fire is hard to combat.

"We've seen significant case studies where firefighters have been injured or killed due to these mansards that are at the front of the structure, they're basically overhangs," SJFD Deputy Fire Chief Patrick Chung said. "They're architectural for design or for making sure people don't have to stand out in the rain in front of the storefront. The concern is that they're unsupported. And when fire starts impinging the structural members, those are heavy building designs that could ultimately fail and fall on top of firefighters."

No injuries were reported and the cause of the fire is under investigation.

You can see just how close some of the other buildings that were not burned are to those that were, highlighting how hard fire crews worked to stop the spread of the fire.

The businesses that were impacted by this are now starting to figure out what to do next.