As BART continues to deal with the fallout from this morning's disastrous commute, investigators from the Oakland Fire Department have started to shed some light on the literal meltdown that occurred in West Oakland.

As previously reported, the three-alarm fire broke out around 2:20 a.m. Thursday morning at a construction site near Fifth Street and Mandela Parkway. The building under construction was to become a four-story senior center. The building's exposed wooden frame, which was about 95% complete according to the contractor who built it, contributed to the quickly spreading fire that took 64 firefighters several hours to control.

As for what started the blaze, Oakland FD Battalion Chief Lisa Baker told KTVU they had received reports of "suspicious people" lurking near the scene around the time it broke out. Investigators are still looking in to the possibility of arson.

Meanwhile, PG&E, who has been experiencing a lot of difficulty anytime anyone asks them to turn off the gas lately, were unable to access their gas lines while Oakland Fire went to work on the fire. When a gas riser caught fire nearby at Fifth and Kirkham, crews from the utility company had to cut in to the street to cut off an underground supply line. That gas leak was reportedly clamped off by 8 a.m., but fire crews remained on the scene putting out hotspots until late in the morning.

Nine PG&E customers lost power in the blaze, but the utility company was running generators to keep them powered until they could repair damaged power poles and electrical lines. Thankfully, no homes were damaged in the blaze and no one was hurt.

[KTVU]