Early Thursday Morning 2-Alarm Fire Injures Firefighter, Damages Three Oakland Homes
OAKLAND (CBS SF) -- A firefighter was injured and 17 people were displaced in a two-alarm structure fire in Oakland's Fruitvale district early Thursday morning, a fire spokesman said.
Fire officials said the blaze was first reported just before 4 a.m. in the area of the intersection of 34th Avenue and Foothill Boulevard. Crews arriving on the scene encountered massive flames and heavy smoke billowing out of a structure and called in a second alarm.
Fire spokesman Michael Hunt said firefighters who responded to the blaze saw that it was spreading to buildings on each side of the vacant home so they requested a second alarm.
One of the adjacent buildings is a single-family residence and the other is a multi-unit structure.
The fire was declared under control at 4:30 a.m. but one firefighter was injured and 15 adults and 2 children were displaced, according to Hunt.
The American Red Cross has been contacted to arrange housing for the people who were displaced, Hunt said.
The fire rekindled at 7:57 a.m. but was quickly controlled, according to Hunt.
Fire officials asked for a structural engineer to examine the vacant house where the blaze originated and the house has been red-tagged, Hunt said.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.