Trestles catch fire near West Oakland, nearby residents urged to keep windows closed

By Brandon Downs

Some people in West Oakland were encouraged to keep their windows shut overnight as crews battled a fire at the old trestles near the East Bay Municipal Utility District wastewater treatment plant. 

Oakland firefighters said the fire spread to vegetation near West Grand Avenue and Wake Avenue Saturday night. The forward progress of the fire was stopped and no structures are threatened.

Crews reported that the fire was producing spot fires on the East Bay Municipal’s property, but crews were able to extinguish the fires.

A video of the fire showed much of the old trestles in the area completely engulfed in flames.

Due to the fire, the department urged people within three miles of the area to keep their windows closed overnight.

By Sunday, crews said they were still on scene cooling hot spots and were working to get equipment to pull down the smoldering infrastructure.