Oakland warehouse blaze forces 8 to flee

and was hospitalized. No firefighters were injured.

Watson described a scene chillingly familiar to the 2016 Ghost Ship inferno, where 36 people in Oakland’s Fruitvale neighborhood were trapped and killed in a warehouse illegally repurposed as living quarters for artists. The space, which was also used for storage, was littered with large furniture and debris and was split into several small rooms.

Watson, however, noted one big difference between Ghost Ship and the space that went up in flames Friday.

“It sounds like it was (similar), but it wasn’t,” he said. “Because this one was on our radar.”

After the initial April redtagging, fire officials gave the owner five months to bring the space up to code and said no one could live there in the meantime, Watson said. After a review in August, fire officials determined the building was still not up to compliance.

A fire crew was called to the warehouse for a medical issue in October, which prompted another probe. The building was redtagged again the following month, and about 20 occupants were ordered to evacuate within 72 hours. Watson said the occupants were offered assistance in finding housing, and that the city shut off the building’s electricity and utilities.

It’s unclear whether the occupants on Friday were the same ordered to leave last month. Watson said the owner lived in the building at one point as well.

The cause and origin of Friday’s fire are under investigation.

A major structural collapse occurred inside the warehouse, Watson said. The city will soon board up the building and put a fence around it, and it’s extremely unsafe for anyone to go inside.

“At one point, you should not have been in,” Watson said. “Now there’s a possibility that the building will fall on you.”