Update: Suspect Arrested - San Jose Public Storage Explodes; Subsequent 3-Alarm Fire Now Contained

Update: The suspect connected to the 3-alarm blaze at a storage facility in San Jose has now been apprehended, according to authorities.

A 3-alarm inferno erupted at a public storage facility in South San Jose on June 15, 2023, leading to explosions that were heard and felt by nearby residents, according to ABC7 News. Firefighters contained the blaze at Public Storage, located at 88 Blossom Hill Road, after receiving reports at around 6:30 p.m., but not before making a significant impact on the surrounding neighborhood.

Witnesses reported a massive plume of black smoke emanating from the fire and mentioned the sounds of the explosions shaking their houses, as was the case for one local who spoke to an NBC Bay Area reporter, the cause of the fire remains under investigation, while no injuries have been reported so far, and yet the incident left many frightened and confused, they heard what sounded like fireworks that shook their house before they saw the smoke, some even thought there was an active shooter in the area.

As firefighters continued to fight the fire, roads in the vicinity were closed, resulting in traffic delays for local residents, the department first reported the fire as a two-alarm blaze but later upgraded it to a three-alarm fire as the flames continued to rage, reports Mercury News.

While the cause of the explosions remains uncertain, some residents speculated that what they heard were fireworks, however, the San Jose fire officials stated that it was too soon to know what exactly caused the explosions, as another NBC Bay Area article suggests.

The flames were so intense that there was little that firefighters from the fire station located just across the street from the burning building could initially do, according to CBS San Francisco, but later, the firefighters surrounded the facility, spraying water from all sides and over the top, yet the flames continued to burn, the fire department eventually contained the fire, and firefighters worked overnight to extinguish hotspots and prevent flare-ups at the scene, thankfully no injuries have been reported.