Breaking: Man injured in Berkeley fire on Gilman Street

One man was taken to the hospital for treatment after a fire in West Berkeley on Tuesday night. Photo: Jef Poskanzer

A small rooftop fire in West Berkeley on Tuesday night sent one man to a San Francisco burn center for treatment, authorities said.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, but Deputy Fire Chief Avery Webb said a caller reported flames showing from the roof of 841 Gilman St. at 6:45 p.m.

A single-alarm assignment, including four engines, a truck and an ambulance, was dispatched. Firefighters arriving to the Royal Robbins Clothing store said there were no more active flames on the roof when they got to the scene, though they did see smoke and some embers.

Webb said there had been some unconfirmed reports related to a possible barbecue grill that may have been involved, but reiterated that the investigation is on-going. The fire was confined to a makeshift rooftop deck, and did not spread to the building beyond that.

He said a man who was on the roof suffered burns, but that he did not know the extent of the man’s injuries.

The man was transported by ambulance to the burn center at St. Francis Memorial Hospital in San Francisco. Webb said, generally speaking, a victim is taken to the burn center when the injury is significant enough to warrant specialized care, but noted that this could be true even for burns covering a small area.

Police initially closed off Gilman Street in both directions because of the amount of emergency equipment and personnel in the street.

Webb said he did not know immediately how, or if, the burn victim was connected to the property on Gilman Street.

According to unconfirmed scanner traffic, people appeared to have been living in the commercial building.

Berkeleyside will update this post if more information becomes available. Read past coverage of fires in Berkeley here on Berkeleyside.

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Emilie Raguso