TRAGIC

At Least 3 Killed in Oakland Fire

In building offering transitional housing.

At least three people were killed Monday and another four injured after a four-alarm fire tore through a transitional housing building in Oakland, California. One person remained missing late Monday, authorities said. The Alameda County coroner named one of the victims as 64-year-old Edwarn Anderson. The identities of the other victims have not yet been released. City fire officials said they rescued more than a dozen people hanging from windows and clinging to fire escapes upon their arrival Monday morning. A Red Cross official was cited in local media saying about 125 people had been displaced by the fire, including “dozens of squatters.” The building on San Pablo Ave. was leased by nonprofit agencies offering transitional housing and social assistance programs, with many of those living there trying to get back on their feet after drug addiction and homelessness. The three-story building had been the subject of several building department citations and investigations in recent years, with complaints about large amounts of trash, debris, building materials and furniture around the building. Monday’s deadly fire has renewed scrutiny of city fire inspectors, after a fire at a warehouse called the Ghost Ship in the Fruitvale district killed 36 people in December. In the wake of that fire, investigators discovered that the building hadn't undergone an inspection in more than 30 years, despite complaints.