Overnight fire destroys South San Jose strip mall

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KTVU) - An overnight fire destroyed a strip mall in South San Jose, firefighters said.

The first emergency call came at 11:53 p.m., about a fire at Santa Teresa Boulevard, near Cahalan Avenue.

Authorities said the fire quickly spread, because of the lack of sprinklers.

There were about 20 businesses, and most of them are either heavily damaged or destroyed.

Once flames reached the roof of the strip mall, the fire really took off, and crews were unable to stop if.

Most of the businesses were closed when the fire started, but a few homes behind the mall were threatened.

More than a hundred firefighters were called in to battle the blaze.

It took them several hours to bring it under control.

Firefighters remained on the scene early Wednesday morning, and poured water on the mall, to prevent the fire from flaring up again.

As standard procedure, an arson investigator went to the scene, but it is too early to determine what sparked the fire.

A battalion chief did tell KTVU reporter Janine De La Vega that the fire appeared to have started in a trash bin.