Oakland fire crews knock down apartment fire; 3 injured, including 1 critically
Crews in Oakland knocked down a fire at an apartment building near the intersection of 60th Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Way Wednesday morning that left three construction workers injured including one critically, according to fire officials.
The Oakland Fire Department Twitter account posted that multiple units were responding to the incident at around 10:45 a.m. Assistance from the Oakland Police Department was requested for traffic control.
Fire officials confirmed that the fire was under control just before 11 a.m. Fire crews requested ambulance assistance to transport at two patients to area hospitals with unspecified injuries.
In an update Wednesday afternoon, Oakland Fire Department Battalion Chief James Bowron said fire crews arrived at the fire burning in an apartment building to see smoke pouring from the first floor of the structure. Three victims who had suffered burns had already been pulled from the building, Bowron said.
Bowron said the three injured appeared to be construction workers doing renovation work on a vacant apartment in a four-unit building when the fire happened. One victim was in stable condition, one victim suffered minor injuries and the third victim suffered very critical injuries, Bowron said.
The fire appeared to be a quick flash fire with high initial energy producing heavy smoke and breaking out some windows in the apartment. The fire did not extend to other parts of the building.
Occupants from the three other occupied units will be temporarily displaced until power is restored.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation, but officials said some sort of chemical cleaning agent was being used in the apartment. It is still undetermined as to whether the cleaning agent was involved and how the fire ignited.
Part of Martin Luther King Jr. Way remained closed due to fire trucks occupying lanes, but the scene should be cleared shortly.
