Berkeley Dumpster Fire Prompts Evacuation Of 60 Residents
BERKELEY (CBS SF) -- About 60 residents in a Berkeley apartment building were evacuated Saturday morning after a Dumpster caught fire underneath the four-story structure, a Berkeley fire assistant chief said.
The single-alarm blaze was reported at 12:05 a.m. in the building's parking structure, located underneath the residential units, Berkeley assistant fire chief Donna McCracken said.
Firefighters arrived at the scene and found smoke pouring from inside the street-level parking structure, according to McCracken.
"Apparently, a Dumpster in a concrete-walled section of the structure caught fire," McCracken said. "Luckily, the sprinklers situated over the Dumpster had activated and helped fight the flames."
Along with the sprinklers, the apartment building fire alarms had sounded, causing approximately 60 residents to evacuate their units.
Firefighters were able to extinguish the blaze within 10 minutes, McCracken said, and residents were permitted to reenter the building shortly after 1 a.m.
The damage was contained to the Dumpster and no injuries were reported, McCracken said.
Berkeley police and officers from the University of California at Berkeley Police Department assisted firefighters in the incident, McCracken added.
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