Burned-out residents blame homeless camp by I-580 for Friday fire
OAKLAND (KPIX) -- Several families affected by a large fire in Oakland on Friday were trying to assess the damage and figure out where they'll stay for the next few months.
The four-alarm fire severely damaged five homes and a few of those are total losses.
Joanna Roberts' one-bedroom cottage in the back of her property was burned to the ground. Two tenants who lived there survived but lost a cat along with their possessions.
The main house where Robert lives has minor fire damage.
"This is more than just shelter, this is memories," Roberts said.
Her grandfather built the home and cottage in 1921. She lived in the cottage for years.
"Tai (the next-door neighbor) asked me if I was going to rebuild. I said I don't know with everything being so expensive right now if it's feasible with me being 74 years old to do that. I don't know when my number is going to be called," Roberts said.
The fire also destroyed Alex Gilmete's in-law unit in the back of his property.
"There's going to come a point in time when I will cry about that but it hasn't hit me yet because there's still stuff to do," Gilmete said.
He said since there weren't enough firefighters in the first few minutes of the fire, he turned from a homeowner to a volunteer firefighter.
"(The firefighter said) I'm giving you the hose. Knock down the fire if you use this hose. So I'm grabbing that hose here and I'm dragging it as far as I can -- literally standing here in these Crocs and trying to use that hose to knock down the fire on that building," Gilmete said.
When more firefighters arrived, they took over and saved his main home.
Neighbors said this is the second time since October of 2020 a fire broke out in the same area.
Investigators believed a small homeless encampment in the vicinity of Interstate 580 and 35th Avenue started the fire two years ago. Even though firefighters were still investigating Friday's blaze, neighbors suspected the same cause.
"It's frustrating because, since the last fire, nothing has been done," said fire survivor Jeremiah Burks.
While upset, the survivors said they're glad no one was seriously hurt.
"That sucks. But, you know, nobody died," Gilmete said.
