Huge warehouse fire breaks out in Berkeley overnight
Firefighters reported "strange-looking flames" and possible hazardous materials at the site.
Berkeley firefighters extinguished a massive warehouse fire on Second Street early Tuesday morning.
The response closed nearby streets and stopped local train service. No injuries were reported. An investigation into the fire's cause is underway.
Community members identified the location as part of the former Pacific Steel Casting foundry, which closed in 2018. Authorities were unable to confirm that as of publication time.
According to emergency dispatches reviewed by The Scanner, arriving firefighters reported a "strange glow" and "strange-looking flames" due to possible hazardous materials at the site.
No further information about those reports was immediately available.
The Berkeley Fire Department got the first report about the fire, in an industrial strip right next to Interstate 80, at 4:26 a.m.
Arriving crews found a large warehouse on Second Street, north of Camelia Street, engulfed in flames, BFD said Tuesday afternoon.
"It's going like a bomb," said one of the first firefighters to arrive, according to radio dispatches.
The warehouse was next to Berkeley Forge & Tool, which closed in 2019. The exact location of the fire has not been provided.
Within minutes, BFD upgraded the response to a two-alarm fire and said firefighters would use a defensive approach — protecting nearby buildings rather than going inside — to fight the flames.
BFD quickly called for Union Pacific to stop trains in the area, for firefighter safety and access, and had police set up traffic posts to protect water lines that stretched across multiple streets nearby.
Shortly before 5 a.m. Tuesday, firefighters reported over the radio that the front of the building had collapsed.
The fire on Second Street. BeFree Photography
They were able to protect a nearby high-voltage line and stop the fire from spreading to the building to the north, despite rooftop exposure, according to radio dispatches.
Just before 5:10 a.m., firefighters reported that much of the fire had been knocked down and that smoke was subsiding. But not without significant damage.
"The whole roof's gone," one firefighter reported over the radio shortly before 5:30 a.m.
The fire was declared under control at 5:35 a.m. Train service resumed shortly after that.
Firefighters remained in the area for hours to watch for hotspots and ensure the fire was fully extinguished.
According to radio traffic, Albany, El Cerrito and Oakland firefighters were dispatched to Berkeley to help during the response.
