OAKLAND — Firefighters battled an early-morning blaze Friday at a red-tagged warehouse where squatters were living, authorities said.
Flames were reported around 2:30 a.m. at 3855 West St., a commercial building off of Apgar and West streets about two blocks from the station, according to Oakland Fire Department Battalion Chief Sean Laffan. The fire was knocked down by 7:30 a.m.
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When they arrived, firefighters found eight people inside who had been living in the warehouse — despite the fact that it was red-tagged by the city of Oakland on Nov. 28, Laffan said. Several people who were living in the building were evacuated, he said.
Friday’s fire took no lives, unlike Oakland’s 2016 Ghost Ship fire where 36 people died in a warehouse being illegally used as a performance space and artist’s collective.
In a statement issued late Friday, Council member Dan Kalb said he met with neighbors of the building two weeks ago as part of an effort “to make this neighborhood safer and ensure that residents’ and neighbors’ concerns are heard” and addressed by police and city hall. Friday’s fire, he said “would have been much worse” if not for a strong response by firefighters.
Some of the people who were living in the building when the fire errupted Friday were among those that the city removed last month, he said. “While most of the occupants have not returned, some of them did come back into the building illegally.”
One person was transported to the hospital for non-life-threatening burns. No other injuries were reported; there was no immediate estimate of monetary damage.
The building, built in 1926, was zoned as a warehouse.
It was not immediately clear what prompted the city’s November inspection and red flagging of the building. Unlike apartment buildings and schools, warehouses are not required by state law to receive annual fire safety inspections.
Check back for updates.
