By By Joshua Molina
San Jose Mercury News
LOS GATOS, Calif. — A fire ripped through a vacant car dealership near Trader Joe's in Los Gatos on Sunday afternoon.
The dramatic blaze, at the intersection of Los Gatos Boulevard and Gateway Avenue, was visible to motorists on Highway 17.
The two-alarm fire broke out about 4:15 p.m. More than 30 firefighters responded to the blaze at the former site of the Swanson Ford dealership.
The site has been vacant for about a year, said Kendall Pearson, a battalion chief for the Santa Clara County Fire Department.
Pearson, the incident commander for the fire, said that because no other buildings were threatened, crews took a "defensive" posture, knocking down the blaze from the outside.
Firefighters had plenty of access to the building, which was surrounded by an expansive parking lot.
The fire was contained to the former showroom area and extinguished in about 30 minutes.
Pearson said the cause of the blaze was unknown.
The property, he said, appeared to be slated for new development, so it would be difficult to calculate the cost of a building that was going to be toppled anyway.
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