Home Depot to pay $1.3M for code violations after 2022 arson fire
SAN JOSE, Calif. - Home Depot must pay over $1.3 million for fire code violations uncovered during a probe into an arson fire that burned a San Jose store to the ground.
The Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office investigated how numerous fire code violations played a role in the April 9, 2022, fire that was intentionally set at the Blossom Hill store.
Investigators from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the San Jose Fire Department determined that the fire code violations "critically hampered firefighters and the saving of the structure."
The district attorney said that at the time of the fire, the store's automatic fire suppression sprinkler system was disabled. Home Depot was notified it was not working, but the store took no action to fix it, authorities said.
Home Depot arson suspect also accused of theft spree in San Jose
An arson suspect accused of torching the Home Depot in San Jose was on a theft spree, and attempting to steal thousands of dollars in tools, officials said.
"Fire code violations are potential tragedies in waiting. Ignoring them isn’t just risky; it’s reckless. It risks far more than property. It risks lives," said District Attorney Jeff Rosen.
The county's investigation also showed that 13 other Home Depot stores in the county had been issued notices of fire code violations between 2018 and 2023.
Dyllin Jaycruz Gogue has been charged with setting the blaze that destroyed the store and resulted in $17 million in inventory loss. Gogue is accused of starting the fire while attempting to steal thousands of dollars in tools, officials said.
He deliberately set the fire in an aisle at the Blossom Hill store while trying to take a cartload of tools during a theft spree, prosecutors alleged.
The arson case against Gogue is still pending.