Homeless camp fire claims male victim

A male victim died in a fire Monday morning at a homeless encampment near Interstate Highway 980 in Oakland, a fire battalion chief said.

The fire was reported at 5:23 a.m. near Northgate Avenue and Sycamore Street.

Battalion Chief Ian McWhorter said the fire has been extinguished and no one else was injured.

McWhorter couldn’t say yet how the fire started. The homeless camp was a little different than a typical tent camp because the residents had built small structures with two-by-fours and plywood.

McWhorter said:

“They’re getting very creative.”

The structure had a door, but probably not a smoke alarm, he said.

According to McWhorter, two or three more structures are in the same area.