Firefighters injured in Oakland high-rise residential fire

OAKLAND, Calif. - Oakland Fire Department battled a fire that was quickly extinguished at a residential high-rise in Oakland on Tuesday afternoon. At least three firefighters suffered non-life threatening injuries. 

Crews responded to the structure fire at a residential building located at the Oakland Housing Authority Building residential tower at 7th and Market streets. Officials said the fire began at 4:13 p.m. In an update, officials said the fire had gone to two alarms and was extinguished shortly before 5 p.m. 

Crews had to go into attack mode on the 6th and 7th floors, officials said. 

A KTVU cameraman at the scene said he saw one injured firefighter being loaded into an ambulance. He also saw people being rescued by the fire department from the high rise on ladders. The fire department said aside from the three firefighters, two civilian patients had to be treated. They were all transported to the hospital. The fire chief indicated he felt they would all be okay.  

By late evening, one of the three firefighters was cleared to return home.

"The majority of the damage was smoke related, not necessarily fire," Oakland Fire Chief Reginald Freeman said. He confirmed the fire started on the 6th floor but could not confirm it had spread to the 7th floor. 

A couple told KTVU, they jumped down from the 6th floor balcony down to the 5th floor. 

"We couldn't stay up there, because it started flaming up some more, so we had to jump down from one story and then we had to wait for the people to come and then, it started doing the same [expletive] again and we had to do it again. We had to hop on that ladder and just go down. It was just scary. I'm glad we made it out," said Artijanae Doss of Oakland. 

"He pulled the ladder up for us," said Jeff Belton, of Oakland. He was describing the assistance he received from firefighters. "I hope everybody's okay though." 

The 6th-floor residents described pitch-black conditions from smoke-filled hallways. They had no choice but to jump from the balcony. They suffered minor smoke inhalation.

Residents from 12 units in this 80-unit high rise have been displaced. People were asked to avoid the area between 7th and 10th on Market Street. 

The cause of the fire is not yet known.  

Aside from Oakland, Berkeley and Piedmont fire departments also responded. 

We will keep an eye on this fire and report more details as they develop.

KTVU's Amanda Quintana contributed to this story.