Early-morning fire destroys apartment and pizza shop

Officials are investigating the cause of the blaze.
By SHERRI L. SHAULIS
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
CAMPBELL -- Fire officials were able to verify that a mother and her young child were not in their second-story apartment when fire destroyed the 12th Street building early today.
"We heard she moved out yesterday [Wednesday]; people told us they saw her moving boxes out, but we needed to be sure," said David Horvath, city fire chief.
Horvath and other firefighters continue to investigate the cause of the blaze, which collapsed the ceiling of the structure and destroyed the interior of both floors. Arson investigators also were called in to investigate.
The name of the woman who lived upstairs was not immediately available, but Perry Alexander, whose family operated the Belleria Pizzeria franchise on the first floor of the building, said her car was not in the neighborhood.
"There was a woman and her baby living there, but they moved out last night," he said.
Called in fire
Alexander, who lives two doors down from the building at 122 12th St., called in the fire to 911 shortly after 5 a.m.
"I heard the alarm and thought someone had set off something at the VFW [building]," he said. "When I got up and walked to the bathroom, I saw smoke coming from the roof on the left side of the building.
"I called 911 and they started asking me questions but I hung up and rushed over here," he said.
The Alexanders have operated the Belleria franchise for the past five years, said Frank Frattaroli, franchise supervisor. It was one of only two pizzerias on 12th.
"There's nothing in there they will be able to salvage," Frattaroli added, watching firefighters pump water into the building from the street as well as from the second-story window of a neighboring building. That vacant building, which stood only about 18 inches from the pizzeria, was not damaged, Horvath said.
Eight firefighters from Campbell responded to the scene, and 11 firefighters from Struthers were called in, Horvath said.
Flames through roof
When the first unit arrived, he said, flames were shooting through the roof. By 7 a.m. firefighters were working to control hot spots and enter the building to begin investigating the cause.
The building, which bore a cement marker on its front with the name Carano, was built in 1923. Before housing the Belleria franchise, it was home to Pizza Joe's and a bakery before that.
slshaulis@vindy.com