CASTRO VALLEY, Calif. - Two Castro Valley businesses are temporarily closed after a fast-moving fire tore through their shared building early Tuesday morning, leaving both heavily damaged and boarded up.

The fire broke out around 4 a.m. inside Pho Auntie’s 7, a Vietnamese restaurant on Castro Valley Boulevard, before spreading toward the adjoining Jr.'s Discount Liquors.

"It started in the rear of the eatery," said Paige Bowie, a Division Chief at Alameda County Fire Department. "Heavy smoke, heavy heat, it wasn’t easy to find the fire initially. We sent crews to the roof to ventilate and relieve some of that smoke."

Within an hour, firefighters had knocked down the flames. Liquor store owner Junior Singh credited their aggressive efforts with saving the building. "All the fire crews

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