3-Alarm Fire Rips Through Vacant Richmond Office Building

RICHMOND (CBS SF) -- A fire that engulfed a vacant office building in Richmond grew to three alarms early Friday morning before fire crews were able to contain it.

The fire broke out around 2:30 a.m. at a building on the 2000 block of Wright Avenue just south of Interstate Highway 580 near Marina Bay Parkway.

Fire crews arrived to find the building fully engulfed in flames, and crews were up on engine ladders spraying water on the fire.

There was no immediate word on the cause of the fire, and a fire captain could not speculate on whether anyone had been in the building before the fire began.

"When we get to the fire to a point where it's under control, we'll do some subsequent searches and searches for anyone who may have been inhabiting the place or any civilians that may be on the property," said Richmond Fire Capt. Rico Rincon. "So far we haven't seen any citizens here at the location."

The building was a former laboratory for a business called Eberline Services which once provided radiochemical and environmental sample analyses.

There was no word of any injuries to firefighters.