Five residents evacuate safely after blaze at South San Jose care home

SAN JOSE » Five people — including a 102-year-old — were swiftly evacuated from a care home facility in South San Jose after a fire broke out there early Sunday, officials said.

The facility’s owner said all five were doing well late Sunday afternoon.

“Material things can be replaced, but not life, and I am so glad they are OK,” Christina Banago, the owner of the facility and one of the caregivers, said by phone Sunday afternoon.

“My neighbor, whom I praise as a hero, helped me to carry one of my patients out of the house.”

Around 4:10 a.m., the San Jose Fire Department received several calls about smoke and flames coming from the care home on the 4900 block of Massachusetts Drive, according to Capt. Peter Caponio.

The fire appears to have started near a backyard fence and shed, and then spread to the home’s attic, Caponio said.

When fire crews arrived at the home, Banago and another care home employee were assisting the residents with evacuating. None of the five residents nor the two care home employees were injured, Caponio said.

Firefighters also rescued a parakeet that belongs to one of the residents of the home.

Three of the residents were taken to a nearby care home facility, while two others who required assistance with walking were taken to a hospital, Caponio said.

About 30 firefighters responded to the blaze, which was brought under control around 4:45 a.m., Caponio said.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, but there is no suspicion of arson at this time, he added.

“Oh, I’ve never shaken in my entire life until I see these things happening,” Banago said.

“But the most important thing is that they are all safe,” she said of the people she cares for at the home.

Banago said her clients are 102, 92 and 90 years old, and two are in their upper 80s.

She said four of the clients are staying at a care facility she owns in San Jose, but one of them was still at a hospital Sunday afternoon waiting until an electric hospital-style bed can be installed in the second facility for her to use.