4 Alarm Fire: Hundreds Of Neighbors Still Evacuated

OAKLAND, CA — An estimated 700-900 neighbors remain evacuated after a 4-alarm fire destroyed an under-construction building near Oakland's Lake Merritt.

There were no injuries or deaths.

The fire broke out before 5 a.m. at a building located in the 2400 block of Valdez Street near Grand Avenue.
Streets in the area are blocked off for the firefighting effort.

"With a fire this size it is a miracle that we have had no loss of life, no injuries and nothing more than what appears to be cosmetic damage to any ancillary or surrounding structures," said Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf.

Kamilah Mims lives in an apartment building on Waverly Street next to the parking garage of the building that caught fire. She was standing on Grand Avenue with her kitten Kango and watching firefighters battle the blaze. "We were sleeping around 5 a.m. when we heard a woman screaming there was a fire across the street," she said.

Mims said she grabbed her kitten and evacuated her building. "We were scared, because we weren't sure if it would spread or what would happen if the building came down," she said. "I'm happy it didn't spread."

Sarah Tyack lives in the building at 100 Grand Ave. just across the street from where the fire broke out. She said she was in her apartment when she heard someone announce there was a fire. "At first I thought it was our building," she said.

She said she looked out her window, saw flames and evacuated.

The building that burned, named the Alta Waverly, was to be at least six stories tall and feature 196 apartments as well as retail space. It was slated for completion in Spring 2018.

Arson investigators from Alameda County, the Oakland Fire Department and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are all investigating.

Anyone with information is asked to call investigators at (510) 777-3333.

Businesses in the neighborhood who need city assistance can call the Oakland Business Assistance Center at (510) 238-7952.

— Bay City News contributed to this article; Image via Oakland Fire Live