Crews battle 6-alarm building fire near UC Berkeley campus, officials say

BERKELEY, Calif. (KGO) -- Nearly 100 firefighters battled a major six-alarm fire Saturday evening at a multi-story apartment building under construction in downtown Berkeley.

The fire, in the 2000 block of University Avenue between Milvia Street and Shattuck Avenue, was reported shortly after 6 p.m.

Originally designated as a two-alarm fire, Berkeley firefighters eventually upgraded the incident to a six-alarm fire, receiving mutual aid from fire departments in neighboring Oakland, Piedmont, Emeryville, Albany and El Cerrito. The Alameda County Fire Department also assisted.

Residents in neighboring apartment buildings were evacuated as a precaution.

Firefighters say, the foreman was on site earlier Saturday, but left at 5 p.m. No one was inside though the scaffolding and height of the building created challenges...

Keith May, Asst. Chief of the Berkeley Fire Department said, "It may not be safe to enter and get through that netting. We're assuming there's no sprinkler system active in there."

Much of the fire has been extinguished, but firefighters will remain on scene through the evening to extinguish hot spots.

Berkeley fire officials said none of the existing buildings ended up being damaged by the fire, though one apartment building nearby will have water damage and residents could be displaced.

There are no reports of injuries and the cause of the fire is unknown at this time and will be under investigation.

Officials say both directions of University Avenue remain closed between Milvia Street and Shattuck Avenue. The location of the fire is two blocks west of the University of California, Berkeley.

Stay with ABC7 News for the latest developments.

Bay City News contributed to this report.