Federal Investigators Examine Oakland Construction Site Fire – NBC Bay Area

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Federal investigators on Monday pieced through the charred skeleton of an under-construction apartment building in Oaklandto determine if the blaze was accidental or intentionally set.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives sent a national response team to examine the fire site at 2302 Valdez Street, which caught fire early Friday and forced several hundred evacuations.

4-Alarm Fire Engulfs Building in Oakland

The four-alarm blaze engulfed what would have been a mixed-use apartment complexexpected to house 196 homes and up to 31,500 square feet of retail space upon completion next spring.

No one was injured by the fire, but at least 700 people living and working in the area around the blaze were asked to leave their homes and businesses while crews battled the flames and worked to dismantle a structurally unstable crane marred the fire.

The crane was successfully removed Saturday evening, allowing many evacuees to slowly return home.

As mostevacuees returned home Sunday, a new evacuation order was issued for a neighboring building.

About 7 p.m. Sunday, glass and debris began falling from the building at 180 Grand Ave., leading to the closure of that building, fire officials said. The evacuation order at the building would remain in place until an investigation to determine its condition, officials said.

The blaze comes on the heels of three separate fires at construction sites in the area between July 2016 and May 2017. The ATF is offering a $110,000 reward for any information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for those blazes. The reward does not mention the most recent blaze.

Published at 5:49 AM PDT on Jul 10, 2017 | Updated 5 hours ago

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Federal Investigators Examine Oakland Construction Site Fire - NBC Bay Area