Nine people were displaced Monday when a house fire in the 1500 block of Tyler Street started in the kitchen of a triplex, according to authorities.
Just after 1 p.m., firefighters responded to a three-unit home on Tyler after a resident reported the fire, said Acting Deputy Fire Chief Avery Webb of the Berkeley Fire Department on Tuesday. Officials believe the accidental fire began in a kitchen appliance on the second floor.
The fire started in the kitchen but spread into the hallway before it was contained, he said.
One of two first-floor units had water damage due to the fire above.
A damage estimate was not available Tuesday, but Webb said the fire was under control within 29 minutes of the call reporting it. One firefighter received minor injuries after getting hit in the face with a hose coupling from the supply line.
Webb said the fire took place in a building set back behind another one.
“It was a bit of a hose stretch to get back to it,” he said.
A family of seven people in the upper unit — which originally had been two units but later was converted — were displaced, along with two residents from the first floor. The American Red Cross responded to help with housing needs.
Last week, Berkeley firefighters responded to a structure fire on Halloween in the 2900 block of Piedmont Avenue, near Russell Street.
Webb said firefighters got the call just after 8 p.m.
Someone had been staining wood near a detached garage when authorities believe a rag soaked with staining fluid spontaneously combusted.
The single-alarm fire caused structural damage to the garage, as well as a car inside it.
No damage estimate was available Tuesday. No one was injured during that incident.
This week, Nov. 5, Berkeley firefighters helped Albany firefighters beat back a brush fire in University Village not far from Gilman Street.
Webb said the fire took place on the west side of the University of California-run family housing complex and spread into some nearby vegetation. [Update, Nov. 7: Authorities said that, initially, a car was reported to be involved in the fire, but this was later determined to be unsubstantiated, according to the Albany Fire Department.]
Berkeley residents reported the smell of “woody” smoke in the area.
“The fire wasn’t really going anywhere,” said Webb. Firefighters “got it contained pretty quickly,” he added.
Related:
Berkeley Tuolumne Camp supporters push to rebuild (10.16.13)
Berkeley floor furnace, carpet fire causes minor damage (10.29.13)
Solano County fire blankets Berkeley with smoke (10.04.13)
Small fire behind Clark Kerr campus extinguished quickly (10.04.13)
Live blog: Cal explosion sends 1 to hospital, clears campus (09.30.13)
Man rescued from home fire on Ward Street dies (09.11.13)
Berkeley man dies in house fire on Oregon Street (09.10.13)
After the fire: What next for Berkeley Tuolumne Camp? (09.05.13)
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