Fire guts Emeryville building
EMERYVILLE — A “suspicious” retail-apartment complex near the border of Oakland burned in a spectacular five-alarm blaze early Saturday — the same building that was under construction again after it was destroyed in a massive, six-alarm fire last July.
First reported at 4:58 a.m., the fire on San Pablo Avenue was under control by early afternoon, but Oakland and Alameda County firefighters still were monitoring hot spots Saturday night.
Heat from the blaze was so intense that it buckled metal scaffolding around the building and damaged a construction crane to the point that firefighters feared it could collapse.
The cause of the blaze was still under investigation late Saturday, although Alameda County Fire Department spokeswoman Aisha Knowles acknowledged that the fire was considered “suspicious.”
There were no reports of injuries.
Chirag Dalibar, 49, who lives two blocks away in Emeryville, said he was already awake when he saw the flames. “It was ... the biggest fire I’ve ever seen,” he said.
High flames and smoke could be seen for several miles, and there were precautionary evacuations — later lifted — of neighboring homes or businesses as embers flew blocks away.
Oakland Battalion Chief Zoraida Diaz said the fire will be investigated jointly by the Alameda County Fire Department, the Oakland Fire Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Almost 100 firefighters from Oakland and Alameda County battled the fire.