Berkeley apartment fire closes MLK at Channing Way
Update: BFD said the damage was estimated at $40,000 and that one resident was taken to a local hospital for evaluation.
Firefighters put out an apartment fire in central Berkeley that may have displaced one resident Thursday evening, authorities report.
As of publication time, the fire's cause remained unknown pending investigation by the Berkeley Fire Department.
Callers alerted authorities to the fire shortly before 7 p.m., according to emergency dispatches reviewed by The Scanner.
"I've got a panicked male on the line with a female saying she can't breathe," a dispatcher advised.
BFD Battalion Chief DeJuan Turner said the fire had broken out in the upstairs unit of a fourplex residential building at MLK and Channing Way.
Arriving firefighters found moderate smoke coming out the front door, he said. The resident was already outside.
There were no injuries to firefighters or civilians, he said.
"The fire was knocked down pretty quickly," Turner told TBS at about 8 p.m. "We're just doing some overhaul and we have our investigators on scene."
Turner said most of the building residents had already returned home but that he'd called the American Red Cross in case the resident from the damaged unit was displaced.
He said investigators were still working to determine whether the unit that had the fire remained habitable.
MLK was closed for a period of time Thursday evening during the fire response.
Update, April 11: BFD said the damage was estimated at $40,000 and that one resident was taken to a local hospital for evaluation.
