SAN JOSE — Rigo Rangel sat on the curb and buried his head in his hands Sunday as he watched his home burn. The soccer coach was grateful his wife, three children and his neighbors were safe, but his sadness was about losing all his team’s soccer equipment along with more than $3,000 in cash he had just collected from parents.

The house Rangel rented on Snow Drive south of Hellyer County Park in South San Jose was one of three engulfed by aggressive flames Sunday afternoon. It’s unclear what started the fire, but some neighbors said embers from a nearby grass fire might have landed on the roof of one of the homes.

Along with the Rangels, at least two other families were also left homeless, including one that lived in a remodeled garage. To battle the blaze, the San Jose Fire Department used half a dozen engines to spread out for a block in both directions.

Rangel, 45, who installs garage doors for a living, volunteers as head coach for the Fuerza team of boys ages 17 and under — including his 16-year-old son, Tony — in the NorCal Premier Soccer League.

His 22-year-old daughter, Lizette, was the first to notice the smoke — around 3 p.m. — from a neighbor’s house, and then quickly, flames were on their fence.

“Dad, there’s a fire! Dad, there’s a fire!” she called out.

Her father raced outside, grabbed a hose and tried to put it out, but with winds picking up, the fire was quickly out of control and leaping toward his home.

“It was a last-minute thing, we just thought about getting out safely, getting the dogs,” Lizette Rangel said from the sidewalk of Snow Drive on Sunday. “We got our cars keys and got out.”

Rigo Rangel had to leave behind his bag of practice soccer balls, the goals and cones, and the cash.

His wife, Maria, kept it with other paperwork in a file cabinet in the kitchen. Each player’s family pays $350 per season, but often they give it to Rangel in $20s and $50s as they can afford it.

Assistant coach Richard Johnson says he paid all the tournament fees for the team in advance, and since he was out of town for the past week, Rangel was holding the money to reimburse him.

“I’m not worried about that,” said Johnson, an engineer who’s son also plays on the team. “That’s not important right now. What’s important is that they have a place to sleep.”

Practice will go on, said Johnson, like it always does at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays at Watson Park. And he’s sure the team will play in the Cupertino tournament in two weeks, too.

But Rangel’s son will have to find a team jersey to wear. His jersey, warm-ups and cleats were also destroyed in the flames.

Rigo Rangel sat quietly on the curb as fire engines doused the flames. But when asked about his loss, he started tearing up.

“Oh, all my trophies. We won three state cups,” he said. And all the photos are gone now, too, of the players he had coached since they were eight years old.

To Johnson, Rangel is a coach’s coach.

“He gives everything he’s got for the those kids,” said Johnson, nothing the Rangel’s will stay the night with friends. “He’s a teacher. He’s not in it for winning and screaming. It’s about the kids and nothing else.”

Contact Julia Prodis Sulek at (408)278-3409 or follow her on Twitter.com/juliasulek