West Oakland: Victorian home under renovation partially collapses

OAKLAND -- A two-story pre-1900 Victorian home being renovated in West Oakland keeled over in partial collapse Thursday night, leaning against a neighboring home but causing no injuries, according to fire officials.

Fire crews were called around 8:25 p.m. to the 2400 block of Myrtle Street, near the intersection of Market Street and West Grand Avenue and a half-block from McClymonds High School, where they found the restoration project in a precarious state.

"It had not been shorn up properly, and part of it is now leaning on the building next door," said Oakland fire Battalion Chief Coy Justice. "They will not be able to restore what's left of it."

He said no one was in the building being renovated when it fell, and occupants of the neighboring building were not harmed. That building did not sustain any significant damage.

Justice said the party attempting the restoration will have to apply for a demolition permit to raze the structure. He said the cause of the collapse was not immediately evident.

"I don't know, maybe they took out one two-by-four too many," he said.

According to the Zillow real estate website, the home is a six-bedroom, two-bathroom Victorian built in 1892, about 2,200 square feet with the home and lot valued at just under $400,000.

Contact Eric Kurhi at 408-920-5852. Follow him at Twitter.com/erickurhi.

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West Oakland: Victorian home under renovation partially collapses