A fire burned the front of a Victorian-style home two blocks away from San Jose State around 10 a.m. on Friday.
Across the street, witnesses saw a green house with the front completely charred from the fire on the corner of Reed Street and Ninth Street.
Jo Pink, an alumna from SJSU and one of the tenants renting a space on the property, ran into a gray and smoky living room after hearing a fire alarm go-off.
Pink said she only managed to grab her phone and her dog before running out of the house.
Once outside, Pink said she had to resuscitate her dog because she was not breathing.
“Oh my god, I can’t believe I saved her,” Pink said. “She’s the most important thing in my life.”
“It's just, it's very sad. I just remodeled the place too,” Pink said with charcoaled fingers from the smoke. “I lived here for 16 years.”
Pink said she spent $25,000 on the renovations.
Beth Mondry, who lives one block away from the house, said she heard an explosion in the morning and ran outside.
“When I came outside, there were fire trucks and I ran to the corner because my friend lives in this house,” Mondry said.
Brett Maas, battalion one incident commander for the San Jose Fire Department, said the fire department first started receiving reports about the fire at 10:30 a.m.
“We were getting reports [that] smoke was showing from some of our in-route units before they got here,” Maas said.
Maas said the fire department contained and defused the fire within 20 minutes and are still determining the origin of the fire.
He also said the fire damaged the entire structure, but there were no fatalities or victims trapped inside when the building was burning.
“They went in and knocked out the fire on the first floor and also searched and did not find anybody inside… no victims,” Maas said. “One occupant of the house was able to exit the building prior to our arrival.”
Pink said she couldn’t hear the fire alarm go off when the door to the laundry room was closed.
She said when she opened the door she heard the alarm, started running to the front door and saw there was already a small little fire inside one of the rooms.
“Then it just went so quickly, so huge,” Pink said. “I opened the window and the door, and it just went very quickly.”
After the fire, a neighbor guided Pink to the front of her house and gave her a bag of food and a cup of cranberry juice.
“Everyone is asking me if [there’s] anything I need, they’re very supportive,” Pink said. “It’s been really heartwarming support from the neighbor and my friend.”
Pink said she has known the owner for 20 years.
SJSU alumni, Larry Lundberg, said he felt sick after hearing about the fire over the phone.
“It’s the first house I ever owned,” Lundberg said. “I lived there for five years.”
Lundberg said he’s owned the house since 1971 and that it has a fond spot in his heart because his deceased nephew painted the house.
Pink said she said the house was very beautiful before the fire and is now sad.
“There's no more beautiful place but they said [they] can make it even more beautiful,” Pink said.
Lundberg said he is unsure when he will finish remodeling and repairing the house, but he is estimating repairs will take between six to seven months.
