3-alarm fire breaks out at east Oakland warehouse

CBS SF- A three-alarm fire broke out at a warehouse in East Oakland on Monday morning, sending a massive plume of smoke that was visible over much of the Bay Area.

Officials said the fire erupted at the warehouse on the 2000 block of Solano Way near 19th Avenue, shortly before 8:30 a.m. The building is home to American Emperor Supply, a company that provides construction materials, and is well known for its massive “I (heart) My Oakland” sign.

The warehouse is located not far from BART tracks and Interstate 880. BART officials told KPIX 5 that service has not been impacted but are monitoring the fire.

Oakland Fire Battalion Chief Melinda Drayton said her firefighters were battling the blaze defensively from outside the building because of the risk of collapse, and are also making sure flames do not spread to the south to a building under construction at East 12th Street and 20th Avenue.

She said no firefighters have been injured and “as far as we know, everyone is out of the building.” Drayton said a transformer exploded across the street from the fire, but was not causing issues for the firefighters.

Oakland police did help evacuate about 20 people from the first floor of the building. There were 60 firefighters on scene battling the fire.

The fire department asked people to avoid the area because of the emergency response and poor air quality since the fire created a large plume of black smoke that was visible from much of the East Bay.