By Rick Hurd and Harry Harris
East Bay Times
OAKLAND, Calif. — A five-alarm fire destroyed an apartment building under construction and forced the evacuation of others Monday morning, fire officials said.
Two people in a nearby apartment were displaced, but the fire did not injure anyone, Battalion Chief Lisa Baker of the Oakland Fire Department said.
Fire crews first responded to the 300 block of Lester Avenue, near Hanover Avenue, at 5:07 a.m. and found the three-story building engulfed in flames.
The fire destroyed the 41-unit building, which was vacant while undergoing renovations and had scaffolding on all four sides of it, Baker said. It also threatened several others in the area, and crews evacuated between 100 and 200 residents in those buildings, she said.
Wall Of Flames! Fire forces 150 ppl to evacuate, destroys apt building under construction nr Lake Merritt Oakland (Photo: Jennie Done) @KTVU pic.twitter.com/Vmmx2z6ffT
— Alex Savidge (@AlexSavidgeKTVU) October 31, 2016
“We evacuated the buildings on all three sides of it as a precaution,” she said. “Embers were flying around, because of the wind, and our main concern when we got there was protecting the other structures. The apartments under renovation were destroyed when we arrived.”
The fire displaced people in a duplex to the north of the building when scaffolding fell against it. One of the residents, 86-year-old Alice Ng, said she’s lived there since 1955. She said firefighters pounded on her door from her backyard.
“I opened it before they broke it down,” Ng said. “I was scared. I couldn’t even get dressed.”
A building to the south of the construction site also was threatened.
“We first saw some light outside, and we thought it was a tow truck,” said David Tenbrook, who said he moved into the complex with his girlfriend on Saturday. “I looked out, and it was definitely not a tow truck. We could see flames literally right outside our building, bright orange and hot. We could feel the heat through our window.”
The two were told to evacuate, and eventually took a seat on an outside curb to watch.
“It was just a huge amount of flames just shooting up from the middle of the structure,” he said.
Crews anticipated having the blaze under control by 8 a.m. and would be on the scene most of the day “and likely into the evening” monitoring hot spots, Baker said.
PHOTOS: Massive flames leap into the air from fire burning on Lester Avenue in #Oakland: https://t.co/skDlNFbeKC pic.twitter.com/RAJ1gvDebg
— ABC7 News (@abc7newsbayarea) October 31, 2016
None of the other surrounding buildings sustained major damage.
Some neighbors fled before the evacuations.
“The flames were five stories tall. It was above the building,” witness Billy Debaste said. “I thought it was going to take out the building. I got three or four loads of stuff out, because it hadn’t hit our home yet. We got lucky.”
A massive 3 alarm fire in an under-construction building in Oakland near Lake Merritt. Hope everyone is safe #kpixtv @ktvu #fire pic.twitter.com/6vxJ85W29A
— Sameer Halai (@SameerHalai) October 31, 2016
Said Jenny Done: “I packed a bag and took a bicycle and moved my car. We all moved our car and got our pets out.”
The fire knocked out power to the neighborhood, and it was not known immediately when it would be restored or when the evacuated residents could return to their homes.
Investigators were at the scene, but Baker said it was too early to determine how and where the fire began.
Copyright 2016 the Contra Costa Times