CA FFs Control Bridge Fire

April 29, 2022
Oakland Fire Department firefighters controlled a blaze that broke out Thursday underneath a bridge at Lake Merritt’s southern end.

OAKLAND — Firefighters controlled a blaze that broke out Thursday underneath a bridge at Lake Merritt’s southern end, authorities said.

Shortly after 7:50 p.m., Oakland Fire Department firefighters responded to reports of flames coming from the bridge near the 1200 block of Lakeshore Drive.

Twenty-two firefighters and a battalion chief arrived aboard four engines and a truck to find fire billowing up from the pedestrian crossing under the bridge that makes up part of Lake Merritt Boulevard, Oakland Fire spokesman Michael Hunt said.

Within forty-five minutes, firefighters were able to contain the fire, which broke out within an informal homeless encampment along a 100-foot by 10-foot walking corridor under the bridge that leads along an estuary toward East 10th Street. There were no reported injuries, Hunt said.

Social-media posts from observers described seeing plumes of smoke rising hundreds of feet from beneath the bridge, as well as explosions and other noises.

Oakland Fire battalion chief Tracey Chin said those explosions were attributable to propane cylinders found by firefighters in the debris after the fire. The bridge was closed to surface traffic for at least ninety minutes, Chin said.

As of 10:20 p.m., one engine remained on scene with a fire investigator and a structural engineer working to assess any possible damage to the bridge.

No cause for the fire was immediately available Thursday night, but the investigator spoke with a person at the scene whose belongings caught fire. That person was not technically displaced, as they had lodging at a nearby authorized encampment.

“No matter the nature of the call, when it does affect someone and their property and life, we as firefighters do our very best to help,” Chin said.

Contact George Kelly at 408-859-5180.

©2022 MediaNews Group, Inc. Visit at mercurynews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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