Update: Homeless Encampment RVs Ablaze; Large Smoke Plume Towering Over Oakland Neighborhood
OAKLAND (CBS SF) -- A fire erupted among recreational vehicles parked in an Oakland home encampment early Tuesday, sending a massive smoke plume over the city and the nearby 880 freeway.
Oakland firefighters said the blaze broke out at around 6:30 a.m. at large homeless encampment along East 12th Ave. and 17th St. near the busy freeway. At least two RVs were engulfed and more than a dozen makeshift housing structures threatened by the flames.
The flames and smoke were visible to motorists on 880 and slowed the morning commute.
About 20 individuals living in the makeshift encampment were impacted by the fire, but there were no reports of injuries.
"The Fire Department is extremely concerned by the growing number of encampment related fires in Oakland," OFD spokesman Michael Hunt said. "The conditions inside the homeless encampments are unsafe, and pose a range of health and safety risks first and foremost to the unhoused people living there, but also to the surrounding area, the service providers, and the first responders who respond to incidents at these locations."
It took about 30 minutes for the fire crews to knock down the flames by at 6:56 a.m.
A source of the fire remained under investigation.
