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Cupertino Fire Displaces Dozens Of Residents

CUPERTINO (KCBS) – Dozens of residents at a Cupertino apartment complex were displaced by a three-alarm fire on Saturday night.

Santa Clara County Fire Department arson investigator Jeremy Davis said the blaze started shortly after 6 p.m. at the Village Green Apartments on Homestead Road.

"The fire involved one building. It has 16 apartment units inside the building," said Davis. "Eight units were destroyed by the fire and the other eight units had smoke and water damage."

It took 80-100 firefighters to get the fire under control in about two hours. Davis said it appears the blaze started in the kitchen of a resident who was cooking.

"She started a pan full of oil. She had turned it on and gone back to her bedroom and forgot that it was on," he said. "She was alerted by the smoke detectors and as she came towards the kitchen, she noticed there was fire coming out of the pan up into the cabinets."

There were no injuries in the incident, which caused an estimated $2 million in damages.

KCBS' Betsy Gebhart Reports:

Davis said as many as 50 residents were displaced and Red Cross set up a temporary evacuation center in the gym at nearby Homestead High School. The shelter will provide residents with food, shelter and crisis counseling services.

Davis said that some residents of the building are out of town for the Thanksgiving holiday and may not be aware of the damage to their apartment.

(Copyright 2011 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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