Massive Fire In Hollister Damages Several Businesses

Another weekend and another large structure fire in San Benito County. And Sunday’s fire took out two businesses with it.

“Well I saw a lot of flames coming out of Dollar Tree and this side of the shopping center,” said bystander and business owner, Michael Sicoli.

Dollar Tree on Tres Pinos Rd. is where the fire originated, Hollister Fire Department said. It spread and took out Larry’s Liquors.

Two businesses on opposite ends of the spectrum: one is a corporate chain, the other was all those owners had.

Sicoli’s two businesses in the shopping center were untouched.

“You put a lot on the line out here owning a business and you don’t want that to happen,” Sicoli said.

The Hollister Fire Department said the cause of the fire is unknown, but what is evident is the wear and tear these big fires take on the department.

“I think I put the containment at approximately eight o’clock so approximately three hours we were actively fighting the fire,” said Hollister Fire Chief Michael O’Connor.

With Gilroy and South Santa Clara Fire Department coming in to help, that brought the total of firefighters to 45.

“We definitely do need more firemen,” said O’Connor.

Neighborhood Pizza was also hit with some smoke and water damage, but that is expected to be back up and running within a month, the fire department said. Dollar Tree and Larry’s Liquors will have to rebuild entirely.

All of these businesses have been red-tagged, which means nobody can go inside of them because they have the potential to collapse at this point.

The businesses were not open when the fire broke out, so there were no employees injured during the fire. One firefighter was having trouble breathing through the smoke and had to be transported to the hospital. He is expected to be okay, the fire department said.