Jun. 13—A fire Saturday afternoon at a recycling center in West Oakland injured one firefighter, pumped huge clouds of dark smoke into the air and led to temporary power failures as a large crew worked into the evening to contain the flames.
For neighbors long concerned about industrial pollution and what seems like a recent rise in other nearby fires, the blaze also revived nagging questions about what's next for this fast-changing corner of the city.
"I'm not surprised this happened," said Will Walker, a Google employee who moved to a home on 11th Street in 2018. "Complacency is kind of the enemy here. You have an area that was historically redlined, that was just given the short end of the stick."
As the fire at the business continued to burn, fire crews planned to remain on site to address any unexpected complications.
"We just want to make sure that no hot spots are able to spark throughout the night," Hunt said.
The wait left Walker time to ponder what seemed to him like a steady stream of other recent fires in the neighborhood: car fires under the freeway, a house down the street. Just last month in West Oakland, a large fire broke out at a warehouse occupied by an unpermitted marijuana-growing operation.
"There's been a lot of fires this year," Walker said. "It's crazy."
Lauren Hepler is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @LAHepler
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