Oakland firefighters contain three-alarm fire

OAKLAND, CA Fire Battalion Chief Lorenzo Frediani said the flames were reported in the 700 block of Washington Street around 2:45 p.m. and the crews worked efficiently to control them in 27 minutes. A worker using a heat gun to remove paint on the roof of a two-story building started the initial fire that jumped to the fourth floor of a neighboring one, Frediani said. When the crews arrived, flames with heavy smoke were overwhelming the buildings, he said. The redwood in Victorian-style buildings burns faster than most others so the firefighters had to work more aggressively, he said. He said the second building that caught fire was empty for renovations and the first was a business building that was empty for the holiday. No injuries were reported. Frediani estimated that the fire caused about $200,000 worth of damage.