Fire at Oakland apartment building damages multiple units

By Jose Fabian

Oakland fire crews extinguished a blaze inside an apartment complex on Tuesday evening, Battalion Chief Anthony Sanders said.

Sanders said crews were called just before 8 p.m. to the 200 block of Fairmount Avenue for a report of smoke and flames coming from the upper floor of an apartment.

Firefighters arrived within minutes and were able to get the fire under control by 8:20 p.m. Sanders said it really helped to have Station 10 open. The station, which is less than a mile from the fire, closed for roughly three years, as it went through renovations and the city dealt with understaffing, but opened its doors last September.

“This building is located pretty much right smack in the middle between three fire districts, so it was great all those fire houses have been, especially engine 10 up the street, have been reopened,” he said. “So, having that extra fire unit helped us out with this.”

Sanders said the fire was challenging because the building, a 66-unit complex split into two sections, does not have a standpipe system.

“Crews had to stretch hose lines into the upper floor. They had to lower hose lines down and extend them up through the stairwell,” Sanders explained. “All the water that we have to bring in is through fire hoses … So, it did take a minute for crews to get lines in place.”

No people were injured, but a resident’s cat died in the fire. The fire damaged four units, and smoke and water damage will likely cause residents in about a dozen units to be displaced, Sanders said.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.