One person was sent to the hospital Sunday with burns due to a two-alarm fire in a three-story apartment building on Addison Street, near Sacramento, according to authorities.
The call came into Berkeley Fire Department at 7:12 p.m. about a blaze at 1420 Addison St., according to BFD Fire Chief Gil Dong, who was on scene and posted about the fire on Twitter.
Dong said the fire broke out in a third-floor apartment and was declared under control at 8:21 p.m.
Residents of the building were initially evacuated and the Red Cross came to the scene. Responder James Leeper said most had been allowed back in by 9 p.m. but Red Cross was providing assistance to the displaced tenants of the two units below where the fire broke out.
The cause of the fire is under investigation, Dong said.
Neighbor Alex Present, who was outside the building speaking with emergency responders around 9 p.m., said his wife was outside doing laundry when she heard yelling next door. When Present looked over and saw smoke, he leapt up and ran into the building.
“I had so much adrenaline going,” he said. Present helped usher residents out of the building and spotted one lying in the stairwell. Present helped the injured resident out of the building, and said the resident stood up and collapsed again before making it outside.
Noah, a resident who declined to give his last name, said he moved into the unit directly under the one where the fire started just a few days ago. Standing by a suitcase later Sunday night, he said he was relieved to find little damage in his apartment, but said he had been told to spend the night elsewhere anyway.
Berkeleyside readers first began notifying us of the fire around 7:15 p.m., with several witnessing and hearing crews responding, and many sharing photos on Twitter and via Facebook.
Ed Marshall on Twitter reported that he had also helped people get out of the building. “Scary stuff,” he posted.
At 8 p.m. firefighters reported on the scanner that they were working on the roof and attic and had the fire “mostly under control.”
The building at 1420 Addison is set well back from the street, with what Dong described on Twitter as a 200-foot driveway.
.@berkeleyside Fire on Addison near Sacremento, just finished helping some folks get out of the building. Scary stuff. pic.twitter.com/VrsbIDSRS4
— @esm@mastodon.social (@esm) August 7, 2017
Incident command Addison St. fire @berkeleyside pic.twitter.com/kyE34lzcma
— Bike Rider (@politebike) August 7, 2017
Wide view of the fire building with a 200 ft driveway pic.twitter.com/3e0NhdEgjy
— Gil Dong (@Gil_Dong2200) August 7, 2017
— Sean Smith (@protanope) August 7, 2017
@berkeleyside fire in poets corner. pic.twitter.com/UL3Y0XlPtf
— Jason Martens (@bitmaker_me) August 7, 2017
@berkeleyside Fire at apartment building on Addison. pic.twitter.com/z3zTDoWQ3A
— Quinn Dombrowski (@quinnanya) August 7, 2017
This developing story was updated as we gathered more information. Natalie Orenstein contributed reporting.
