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Firefighters still were searching for hot spots Monday afternoon in the wake of Sunday’s five-alarm fire that swept through the property of two companies on Fourth Street between Channing and Bancroft ways. 

Jetco Motors, a Japanese engine and transmission company at 2334 Fourth St., was destroyed by the blaze that left only the shell of the building standing. On Monday, the interior was a jungle of twisted metal. 

Andros Technologies, a complex of labs and administrative buildings on the north side of Jetco, was severely damaged in the fire, but not destroyed. 

Andros is a manufacturer of equipment that analyzes different kinds of gases. Employees milled around the accessible parts of the complex Monday waiting to get back to work. 

Kate Squire from the city’s economic development office said she would offer the city’s help to Andros in resuming business and rebuilding its plant in Berkeley. 

Assistant Fire Chief David Orth said the fire started at Andros, but the cause in not known and the department is investigating to learn its origin. 

The fire was reported by alarm around 4:49 a.m., and about 20 minutes later a motorist on I-80 spotted the flames, Orth said. When firefighters went to the scene after the alarm sounded, they couldn’t get in the Andros complex and they did not see any fire. In 20 minutes the flames were full blown. 

To find the cause of the fire, Orth said that the investigating team has to dig through huge piles of debris, and some of the digging will be done with a backhoe and some of it carefully by hand. 

He said Andros’ insurance company would pay for backhoe segment of the search, a common practice by insurance companies after a property fire. 

Of the toxic fumes that were reported, Orth said a lot of cylinders on the property contained compressed gasses, most of which were non-flammable compressed gas or CO2. Fires in general produce noxious fumes not fit for breathing, he said. 

The company makes machines that analyze gas for the medical industry. They attach their products to known concentrations of gasses and read the data, he explained. 

He said a lot of those machines were destroyed but Andros is trying to recover by moving into a vacant part of its facility to restart business. 

On the Andros property a lab was burned on its backside and another building connected to it was completely destroyed. A third structure had fire damage but firefighters stopped the fire. 

Orth said the only fire in recent memory in Berkeley that equals this one in scope happened several years ago in the very same block – in the building north of Jetco that housed a candle factory at the time. 

The building is currently owned by Sweet Potatoes, the children’s clothing manufacturer and wholesaler that operates a upscale retail store further north in the Fourth Street shopping district. 

Ginny Holmes, one of three owners of Sweet Potatoes, was grateful for the team of 75 firefighters who brought the blaze under control Sunday. 

“They were incredible. They saved our building,” she said. 

The owners and employees were checking and cleaning their computers Monday morning as they waited to have their telephone service restored. 

The fire burned out chunks of the north wall of Sweet Potatoes’ second floor design room revealing daylight where Jetco Motors had been. 

They didn’t lose inventory but Holmes said, “we feel devastated for our neighbors.”