An early Friday morning fire burned an Oakland construction site to the ground and forced the evacuation of hundreds of residents living nearby.
The huge construction site was in the process of building 200 apartments and 31,000 feet of retail space. Fears the fire would spread and a construction crane in danger of collapsing led to the evacuations of 700 nearby residents, some of which took shelter at emergency locations within hours, KRON 4 reported.
The four-alarm blaze was brought under control about three hours after it started at 4:30 a.m., KRON reported. Firefighters from Alameda County, Berkeley, Albany, and Alameda fire departments all worked to get the fire under control and continue to monitor hot spots. Police and fire officials are investigating the cause of the fire and said it appears to be suspicious.
We’re still gathering facts but there are no reports of any injuries and that’s the most important thing,” CEO of builder Wood Partners Joseph Keough said, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
The site was part of the Broadway Valdez Specific Plan District, a mixed-use plan meant to revitalize the Auto Row section of the city.
The Red Cross has set up an emergency shelter location at the Oakland Cathedral for those who were told to evacuate. The YMCA nearby also closed because of poor air quality and will reopen when air quality improves, KRON reported.
Twitter followers posted pictures and reports of the fire.
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