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Man Shot While Oakland Firefighters Respond To Nearby Blaze

OAKLAND (CBS SF) -- A one-alarm fire caused at least $100,000 in damage to a two-story Victorian-style apartment building in West Oakland Tuesday morning but none of its 14 residents were injured, according to Oakland fire officials.

Meanwhile, as firefighters were at the scene of the blaze, a shooting occurred nearby, sending a man to the hospital, police said.

Battalion Chief Emon Usher said residents reported a fire in the 1600 block of 14th Street, near Campbell Street, around 9:19 a.m. Tuesday.

He said a fire investigator who happened to be driving by the building also reported the blaze, and firefighters arrived in about a minute because they came from a fire station just two blocks away.

Usher said 23 firefighters from four engines and two trucks controlled the fire at 9:42 a.m.

He said it appears that the fire started in a first-floor apartment where a mattress that had been placed too close to a water heater ignited.

Most of the damage was to the rear of the building, but there was fire and smoke damage throughout the structure and it is uninhabitable, Usher said.

The building's 14 residents, including four adults and 10 children, have been referred to the American Red Cross to receive temporary housing, he said.

While firefighters were responding to the blaze, a man was injured in a shooting around the corner, in the 1400 block of Peralta Street, police said.

Officers responding to the shooting, which was reported at 10:02 a.m., found a man suffering from a gunshot wound, police Officer Johnna Watson said.

The victim was taken to a hospital to be treated for the wound, which was not life-threatening.

Police haven't released any information about possible suspects or a motive for the shooting.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco and Bay City News Service. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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