Update: 1 dead, 1 critical after Berkeley house fire
Firefighters broke a window to get inside, performing a tactic known as a "vent, enter, search" to complete the first rescue, BFD said.
Update, Tuesday, Feb. 4: Authorities said there are no new updates available at this time about Monday's fatal house fire on Cedar Street.
BFD did report that the family pet, a small dog, was pronounced dead after initially being rescued.
The Scanner will continue to seek information.
Update, 8:35 a.m. One person has died after a Berkeley house fire Monday, authorities have confirmed.
One person remains in critical condition and two others sustained minor to moderate injuries, authorities said after publication.
The Scanner is working to learn more and will continue to monitor the situation.
Original story: Four adults were taken to the hospital, two of them in critical condition, due to a house fire in northwest Berkeley early Monday morning.
Before leaving, one of the victims required CPR on the front lawn, according to radio traffic reviewed by The Scanner.
Firefighters also indicated over the radio that they rescued a small dog from inside the house, which BFD confirmed after publication.
The Berkeley Fire Department was dispatched at 4:35 a.m. to a house fire in the 1000 block of Cedar Street, near 10th Street, and found smoke and fire in a single-family residence when crews arrived three minutes later.
(The fire was located just a block from Berkeley Fire Station 6 at 999 Cedar St.)
The first engine to arrive "immediately went into rescue mode," BFD said.
Firefighters broke a window to get inside the house, performing a tactic known as a "vent, enter, search" to complete the first rescue, BFD said: "This is a tactic that’s employed when there are anticipated delays with the normal ways that we perform rescues."
Firefighters ultimately found four adults inside the home and took all of them, including both critical patients, to the hospital.
No other information was immediately available about them due to medical privacy laws, BFD said.
Crews brought the fire under control by about 5:15 a.m., according to emergency dispatches, and remain at the scene cleaning up as of publication time.
This story was updated with several additional details after publication. The Scanner will continue to follow the story.
