Massive blaze in Oakland near Lake Merritt destroys building under construction

A four-alarm fire at a building under construction near Lake Merritt in Oakland is out, and no one was injured.

A large crane in the middle of the building posed serious danger to firefighters. The crane, which was swinging around on its own amid the flames, didn’t collapse, as was feared.

“When the crane takes on that much heat, it starts to spin,” Battalion Chief Zoraida Diaz told ABC7 San Francisco news station. “So that was one of our major concerns fighting this fire.”

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

The building near Valdez and 23rd streets is a mixed-use project known as Alta Waverly, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

The project included 196 apartments and 31,500 square feet of retail space.

Heat from the fire was detected on a weather satellite in space, according to the National Weather Service in San Francisco, the Los Angeles Times reported. The temperature of the fire reached nearly 900 degrees kelvin, forecasters said.

KRON4 said the fire was just two blocks away from the Grand Avenue side of Lake Merritt.

Police evacuated people living and working nearby.

Thick, heavy black smoke came from the site, and was visible for miles, according to Fox 61 Oakland.

The blaze was first reported at 4:21 a.m.

This story was originally published July 7, 2017 at 6:13 AM with the headline "Massive blaze in Oakland near Lake Merritt destroys building under construction."