Smoke filled downtown Vallejo as residents lined the streets to to watch fire crews attack the flames of a four-alarm structure fire in Vallejo on Wednesday morning.
Crews were dispatched to the scene at 10:01 a.m. to a report of smoke coming from the roof of a building at 1301 Sonoma Boulevard, according to firefighter Aaron Klauber. Upon arriving on scene, more crews were called as firefighters took a defensive stance on the blaze. Loud crashes could be heard as sections of the roof collapsed while flames flared up inside the structure.
Multiple agencies from surrounding cities provided support as crews from American Canyon, Benicia and Fairfield arrived to assist as well as agencies from Napa and Contra Costa counties. Sonoma Boulevard and Curtola Parkway were shut down at the intersection for several hours as emergency equipment was on scene.
“I knew that building was going to burn,” said Kathy O’Hare, one of the founders of Obtainium Works who are located around the corner of Pennsylvania Street. “I saw a man with a barbecue in front of that place on Monday.”
Nearby residents had made several calls to the Community Service Section of the Vallejo Police Department to complain about squatters living in the building prior to the fire.
According to Lieutenant Kenny Park with the Vallejo Police Department, officers from the Community Services Division self-initiated three separate checks of the premises based on complaints forwarded from the patrol division. CSS officers conducted a security check and in January of this year the fire department red-tagged the building as uninhabitable and multiple people were escorted from the premises.
The building had been on the market for several years.
No injuries were reported and investigators remain on the scene to determine the cause of the blaze.
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