Gilroy
– City and county investigators continued Wednesday to search
for the cause of a two-alarm fire that burned a rear storage area
of a discount store Tuesday afternoon.
By Lori Stuenkel
Gilroy – City and county investigators continued Wednesday to search for the cause of a two-alarm fire that burned a rear storage area of a discount store Tuesday afternoon.
An agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, who is part of a county investigation task force, visited the 99 Cents City store on Wednesday to assist in interviews and other procedures, said Ed Bozzo, Gilroy Fire Department division chief. Gilroy police were also on the scene, and surveillance video tapes from the store were being reviewed.
Bozzo said investigators were unsure whether the fire was intentionally set.
“We’re looking at everything right now,” he said.
The fire department was called to the 6900 Chestnut St. store at 2:16 p.m. Tuesday. The sprinkler system in the storage area contained the flames, while firefighters ventilated smoke from the building by cutting several large holes in the roof.
The blaze was extinguished in about three hours.
Much of the store suffered smoke damage, but owner Balkar Singh said Wednesday he did not know the extent of the damage. The store remained closed, and Singh was not sure when it would re-open. Singh and Tejvir Kaur have owned and operated the store on Chestnut Street near Arteaga’s Super Save for about two years.
99 Cents City is within sight of another dollar store, called 99 Cents Only, which was expected to hold its grand opening today. The new store is opening at the Gilroy Village shopping center on Tenth St. in one-half of the former PW Market, which closed in November.
