Giant Oakland Apartment Fire Displaces 13, Thick Smoke Was Visible for Miles

A Fruitvale District fire early Sunday afternoon destroyed one residential building and damaged another, displacing 13 residents in the two-alarm fire whose smoke was visible from nearly five miles away.

The Chronicle has the news of a two-alarm fire Sunday afternoon in Oakland’s Fruitvale district that displaced 13 people, including one child. But this fire may not be news to you if you were driving in or around Oakland Sunday afternoon, as the giant plumes of black smoke were visible from nearly five miles away.

The Oakland Fire Department was on the scene at 2352 East 17th Street shortly before noon Sunday, and shot the on-the-scene images below. About 40 firefighters arrived to find electrical wires down on a reported four structures that were initially impacted by the fire.

The fire was contained by 12:40 pm Sunday, but by then, the fire department was describing it as a “multi story / multi unit structure of origin” fire. One pickup truck was completely engulfed by then, and several other parked cars suffered substantial damage.

The whole fire was out by 1:04 pm, but there was substantial wreckage. The Red Cross provided shelter for 12 adults and one child displaced by the blaze.

There were thankfully no injuries in the fire, and its cause is still under investigation.

Related: Oakland Firefighters Contain Huge Four-Alarm Blaze at Lumber Warehouse [SFist]

Image: @OaklandFireCA via Twitter