Details of the man arrested, including his identity and the motives for setting the store on fire, were not immediately released. The Santa Clara County Attorney’s Office announced a press conference Tuesday morning with San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, the city’s fire and police service, and the federal bureau of alcohol, tobacco, firearms and explosives to discuss and other details of the fire investigation. . Several law enforcement sources told the news agency that the arrest took place over the weekend, meaning the detainee could be taken to court on Tuesday afternoon. Authorities believe the arrested man lit the fire with five alarms that broke out on April 9 in the timber section of the Home Depot at 920 Blossom Hill Road. No one died in the blaze – which was so intense at its peak that its thermal signature was detected in space by weather satellites in orbit – although the residual effects left residents in the neighborhood to repel the harmful smoke for at least two days. SAN JOSE CALIFORNIA – APRIL 9: San Jose Fire Department firefighters work on a fire outside the Home Depot on Blossom Hill Road in San Jose, California on Saturday, April 9, 2022. (Shae Group) Meanwhile, inspection records reveal that San Jose firefighters raised concerns about the building’s 98,000-square-foot fire alarm and sprinkler systems more than a year before the fire. Customers and employees at Home Depot when the fire broke out wondered why the store’s fire alarms reportedly did not sound until almost everyone was outside the building and if the store’s launchers were ever activated. Records obtained by this news organization show that during an inspection on December 14, 2020, the San Jose Fire Prevention Bureau found breaches in the Home Depot area based on the inability of administrators to provide evidence that they were conducting annual system inspections. and similarly failed to demonstrate documentation that the sprinkler system had been repaired or inspected over the past five years. It was not immediately clear on Monday whether the breaches had been remedied before 9 April. The city fire code states that facilities such as the Home Depot should be inspected annually to ensure that sprinkler systems, water pipes, and other fire protection systems are up to date. A subsequent hazmat inspection on October 5, 2021 – the last time the site was inspected by security officials – revealed a separate breach of insufficient work space for electrical service equipment. The breach was remedied less than a month later, the inspection report said. Firefighters were alerted to the fire at about 5.30pm on April 9, when they received several calls from employees and patrons for a fire in a commercial facility, according to fire officials. The Home Depot, housed in a mall across from Westfield Oakridge Mall, caught fire in a matter of minutes, causing customers and employees to flee for their lives. More than 100 firefighters rushed to the scene and the neighborhood behind the store in an effort to prevent damage to nearby homes and businesses. The intense heat extinguished by the flames – created by a mixture of wood, chemicals and paint products inside – formed a huge column of black and gray smoke and was so strong that it was detected by orbiting satellites. It took firefighters six hours to bring the blaze under control. Officials have not yet given a cost estimate for the destruction of the building and the loss of the store’s merchandise. The news of Monday’s arrest came more than a week after investigators began working to determine the cause of the fire. ATF agents arrived on the scene on April 13 to assist with the investigation. This is not the first fire in a Home Depot. In June 2017, an arsonist in Canada was sentenced to five years in prison for allegedly using a lighter to light a fire in the paint department of a Home Depot. In March 2018, a 50-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of setting fire to a Home Depot store in mid-Arizona. And just two years ago, an employee of the Home Depot in Ohio was charged with a felony for allegedly deliberately setting fire to the store where he worked, according to reports. Although some of the Home Depot in these cases suffered extensive fire and water damage, it does not appear that any of them were leveled the way the San Jose store was. Check back later for updates on this story. SAN JOSE CALIFORNIA – APRIL 9: San Jose Fire Department firefighters work on a fire outside the Home Depot on Blossom Hill Road in San Jose, California on Saturday, April 9, 2022. (Baye Hammond Group)
