Raging West Oakland fire burns through homeless encampment

RV catches on fire at homeless encampment in Oakland

An RV catches on fire in Oakland at a homeless encampment. Allie Rasmus reports

OAKLAND, Calif. - A fire broke out early Tuesday morning at a homeless encampment in West Oakland underneath a freeway overpass, which started when an RV, a full-size van and two other vehicles caught fire.

The fire was reported at West Grand Avenue and Wood Street under the Interstate Highway 880 overpass at about 5 a.m.

Battalion Chief Frank Tijiboy told KTVU that no injuries were reported so far and everyone made it out of the encampment, which stretches multiple blocks under the freeway.

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He did note that battling this fire was challenging as there was no fire hydrant nearby and that several propane tanks were exploding because of the fire.

Crews ran a hose about 300 feet from a fire truck down to the nearest fire hydrant to eventually get some water.

"We don't know how it started," Tijiboy said. "But this is fairly large. If this gate wasn't open, we would have had a tough time. We were fortunate here."