Firefighters were called at 2:27 a.m. to the Northgate Terrace senior homes, located at 550 24th St. between Northgate and Telegraph avenues and a block east of I-980. The blaze was contained to one residence on the 10th floor of the 12-story building, Paganelli said. “It certainly had to be scary for the residents waking up in the middle of the night with the place filled with smoke,” Paganelli said.
As a precaution, the 10th floor was evacuated, and about two dozen people could be seen on the ground floor of the building. A sprinkler system inside the apartment unit primarily extinguished the blaze and kept the flames from spreading, officials said. Firefighters used stairways to get to the floor because the elevators stopped working when fire alarms sounded. It was fully under control in about 20 minutes. The high-rise level response brought more than three dozen firefighters to the scene, including Chief Darin White.
One resident was injured early Saturday after a fire broke out on the 10th floor of a senior care home near Interstate 980, a fire official said. The injured woman was taken to a hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation, according to Oakland Fire Department Acting Battalion Chief Tracy Paganelli.
Fire investigator Javon Smith said the cause was accidental. Units on the 10th floor and adjacent floors suffered water and smoke damage, and some of those residents received assistance from the Red Cross. The damage figure was not released. The building is home to more than 200 residents, ranging in age from 62 to their 90s, according to on-site manager Alicia Zhao.