Fire at Berkeley liquor store causes $150,000 in damage
The owner had just put something into the microwave to reheat it when he heard a popping noise from a different area of the wall, BFD said.
An electrical fire at a South Berkeley liquor store Monday morning caused substantial damage to the store interior, authorities report.
The fire broke out at Stanford Liquor, at 3400 Adeline St. (at King Street), at 11 a.m. Monday.
There were no injuries.
According to the Berkeley Fire Department, the owner had just put something into the microwave to reheat it when he heard a popping noise from a different area of the wall.
Then he realized a fire had started, said Interim Deputy Fire Chief Keith May. He turned off power to the store by hitting the breaker box and headed outside.
Berkeley firefighters were on scene within minutes.
They found a working structure fire that "locked up one wall and started to hit the acoustic ceiling," May said. "They were able to put it out pretty quickly."
The crew's quick work stopped the single-alarm fire from spreading to an office space above the main market area, May said.
But the fire caused an estimated $150,000 in damage to the shop interior and store stock.
Community members told The Berkeley Scanner that they were impressed with the emergency response.
"BFD was the on scene very quickly, as well as BPD," one neighbor told The Scanner. "They and parking enforcement coordinated street closure and putting the fire out really efficiently."
