OAKLAND, Calif. — An Oakland residential building that caught fire Monday, killing at least three people, had been the target of building department investigations and citations since 2010, when the city allowed the owner to convert the structure into transitional housing for recovering drug addicts, people struggling with homelessness and others, records show.
Monday’s early morning fire hospitalized four others, Oakland Fire Battalion Chief Erik Logan said.
He added that 15 people were rescued.
Dazed residents who escaped the fire said they were awakened by neighbors’ screams and the popping of hot windows — not fire alarms.
Residents also said they didn’t see or feel any sprinklers as they fled the three-story structure.
“There were no sprinklers or fire extinguishers,” said Curtis Robinson, 52, who had to leave his wheelchair behind in his first-floor room in the scramble to escape.
The cause of the blaze had not yet been determined.
The city records on the building that burned Monday show there was an open investigation into complaints about electrical problems, pests and lack of heat.
On March 6, a building inspector verified a violation involving deferred maintenance, and the building owner was cited on March 2 for large amounts of trash and debris stacked around the property.
Residents said the debris was recently removed, but other problems persisted.
The Fire Department did not immediately respond to a request Monday involving records on alarms, sprinklers and fire extinguishers at the building.
An attorney for Urojas Community Services, which rents the first two floors of the three-story structure for the transitional housing, said the landlord had been trying to evict the nonprofit organization since December.
Lawyer James Cook said he last spoke with building owner Keith Kim on Friday. Kim did not immediately return a request for comment.
Urojas Community Center assists about 60 people with transitional housing and services, Cook said.
He said he had complained to the city about clogged toilets and unsanitary bathrooms, exposed wires and water an inch thick on the ground floor.