Blaze in Rockridge rental property extinguished, no one injured

Smoke could be seen from miles away when a fire broke out in a rental cottage in the Rockridge neighborhood of Oakland on Sunday morning. “I could see the smoke from West Oakland,” said Fire Investigator Dominic Antes, who said the cause of the fire was still under investigation.

No one was inside the cottage, located in the backyard of a home on Bryant Street behind the Rockridge Public Library, and no one was injured, according to Antes. He said 22 firefighters responded and ensured the fire did not spread to other homes.

The cottage’s owner, Kristine, who did not wish to give her last name, lives in the main house on the property and was home at the time.  She indicated that she saw the fire in the cottage and ran outside.

Several neighbors were also drawn outside to watch the fire and the emergency response. “It was right behind that big blue Victorian,” said neighbor David Edwards. “There’s a giant tree back there. It could’ve been a lot worse.”

John Chinn, who lives at the top of the nearby hill, said he saw the smoke and had to come down to check out the scene. “You don’t see many fires around here,” he said.

“I looked up and the sky was all yellow, then I looked up again and it was all black,” said Tanya Anderson, co-owner of Hudson Bay Café, which is located one block from the fire. “Every time the door opened, you smelled the smoke.”

By 10:30 AM, firefighters were tearing down blackened walls and breaking through the roof of the small cottage. Some smoke remained, but the flames had died down. Neighbors started to return to their homes, and the home owner was talking to fire investigators.