The Willow Glen Resident

Saturday fire breaks out inside Casa Casa

Store closes doors temporarily to assess damage

By Rebecca Wallace

With a blackened ceiling and carpets smelling of smoke, Casa Casa is temporarily closed as employees survey the damage from a Saturday fire.

"We're trying to determine how to clean it up, and we don't know how long we'll be closed," said store owner Nancy Biagini as she waited for insurance adjusters to arrive and determine the amount of loss. "It's pretty severe without being actual fire damage; the major damage is from smoke."

Biagini said the May 30 fire at 1355 Lincoln Ave. looked like it had been sparked by an electrical problem, but San Jose Fire Department investigators have not yet determined the cause.

Firefighters were alerted to the fire at around 5:20 a.m. both by the building's alarm system and by Manuel Barragan, a baker at Le Boulanger next door, who called 911. After forcing their way inside, they extinguished the blaze before it spread to other buildings, said San Jose Fire Capt. James Morphis. No one was injured.

Barragan, 22, spoke to The Resident through an interpreter, saying he was baking bread when he heard a loud explosion and saw fire and flames. He said he was scared and thought the fire would spread to the bakery.

"His call helped firefighters to know where exactly in the building the fire was," Biagini said of Barragan. "He's very much of a hero."

The red, gold and green of Casa Casa's walls have been darkened by smoke, she said. "The whole interior has to be repainted, and we have to replace the carpet. We don't know what's salvageable of the merchandise."

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