Grandmother killed, young girl critically injured in San Jose house fire

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- An elderly woman, believed to be in her 80s, and a young girl was hospitalized after a Monday morning house fire in San Jose, fire officials said.

The two-alarm fire in the 1200 block of Greenmoor Drive was reported at 7:29 a.m. and was contained by 8:23 a.m. The one-story building was destroyed.

"Black smoke coming out everywhere with red flames," said a neighbor, who didn't want to be identified as she described the fire. "I've never seen anything like this before, it was like a movie."

ABC7 News spoke to another neighbor who said he was one of the first to call 911. He told us, "The flames were very high. I was out in the backyard. I have a shed that's right up against the property line and I was hosing it down."

A 22-year-old man, who woke up to the smoke and jumped out of a window, suffered minor injuries and was treated on scene. The girl, who is estimated to be 8 to 12 years old, is in critical condition. The family cat also died in the fire.

Late Monday afternoon, the San Jose Fire Department thanked the neighbors who called in to report the fire, saying every second counts.

"When we get multiple calls, then we know that we have something of significance cause we're getting different people that are calling about the same thing... so always call if you see it," said SJPD Capt. Peter Caponio.

The cause of the fire is currently under investigation.