Injured Oakland Firefighter Remains Hospitalized; 2 Others Released
OAKLAND (CBS SF) -- An Oakland firefighter who was injured while battling a two-alarm blaze in a West Oakland residential building remained hospitalized Wednesday at Saint Francis Memorial Hospital in San Francisco.
She was in stable condition, but suffering from the effects of severe smoke inhalation.
"The physicians are hopeful she will recover, however the timeline of her release from the hospital will be determined by the progress shown over the course of the coming days," the department said in a news release.
Two other firefighters who were overcome by the smoke and hot air have been released.
"Incidents like these are extremely challenging from a mental, physical and emotional standpoint," said Fire Chief Reginald Freeman. "Right now, our thoughts are with our member who remains hospitalized, and we are doing everything in our power to ensure that our three injured firefighters, their families, and all our personnel who have been impacted by this event have immediate access to the support and care they need and deserve."
Two residents were also hospitalized, but their conditions were not released.
The fire erupted Tuesday afternoon at an Oakland Housing Authority building in the city's Acorn neighborhood at Market and 7th Street, with crews attacking the fire on the 6th and 7th floor.
Freeman said it was a chaotic scene when crews arrived to battle the blaze.
"We had residents on the balconies screaming for help," Freeman said, adding that two firefighters were injured while using ladders to reach the residents. "We also at the same time had other rescues and grabs that we had to make with civilians that were trapped inside the smoke-filled building."
The fire was reported at 4:13 p.m. with 65 firefighters responding to the scene. The blaze declared under control shortly after 5 p.m. OFD employed "multiple" ladder trucks to rescue residents who were on the balconies in the middle floors of the building.
The Red Cross was helping the displaced occupants from 12 residential units in the building.