San Jose: Man Arrested in Connection to Massive Home Depot Fire

A man has been arrested and charged with starting a massive fire that destroyed a Home Depot earlier this month in south San Jose, authorities said Monday, as newly released records showed the store had been cited by inspectors. firefighters for failing to show evidence that their fire alarm and sprinkler systems were fully operational.

Authorities believe the arrested man started the five-alarm fire that broke out April 9 in the lumber section of the Home Depot at 920 Blossom Hill Road. No one died in the fire, which was so intense at its peak that orbiting weather satellites detected its heat signature in space, though residual effects left neighborhood residents fending off noxious smoke for at least two days afterward.

Multiple law enforcement sources told this news organization that the arrest occurred over the weekend, which means the person detained could be processed in court as soon as Tuesday afternoon. But details, including his identity and motive for burning down the store, were not immediately released.

Meanwhile, inspection records from January 2021 revealed that San Jose firefighters recorded concerns about the 98,000-square-foot building’s fire alarm and sprinkler systems. Customers and employees who were at Home Depot when the fire broke out have asked why the store’s fire alarms apparently didn’t go off until nearly everyone was out of the building, and whether the store’s sprinklers ever went off.

Records obtained by this news organization indicate that during the January inspection, the San Jose Bureau of Fire Prevention asked the Home Depot to provide records of its annual fire alarm system inspections and to repair its fire alarm system. sprinklers “as soon as possible” or show documentation. that system had been inspected in the last five years. Records indicate that inspectors were following up on violations found during a previous visit less than a month earlier, in December 2020.

The San Jose Fire Department said late Monday that the violations were later remediated, but did not say how or when.

A subsequent hazardous materials inspection on Oct. 5, 2021, the last time safety officials examined the site, uncovered a separate violation regarding an inadequate amount of work space for electrical service crew. That violation was remedied less than a month later, the inspection report indicates.

The city’s fire code states that facilities like Home Depot must be inspected annually to ensure sprinkler systems, water pipes, and other fire protection systems are up to date.

Dispatchers were alerted to the fire around 5:30 p.m. on April 9, when they received numerous calls from employees and customers about a commercial structure fire, according to fire officials. The Home Depot store, located in a strip mall across from Westfield Oakridge Mall, caught fire within minutes, causing customers and employees to flee for their lives.

More than 100 firefighters responded to the scene and the neighborhood behind the store in an attempt to prevent damage to nearby homes and businesses.

The intense heat given off by the flames, created by a mixture of wood, chemicals and paint products inside, formed a huge plume of black and gray smoke and was so strong it was detected by orbiting satellites. Firefighters took six hours to control the fire. Officials have not yet provided an estimate of the cost of the building’s destruction and the loss of the store’s merchandise.