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Firefighters battle Berkeley blaze
Flames broke out after warehouse employees had left for the day
A two-alarm fire caused $200,000 in damage to two warehouses on Second Street near Gilman Street in west Berkeley Wednesday, fire officials and a warehouse manager said.
No one was injured.
Just before 6 p.m., city solid waste manager Tom Farrell was working across the street when he noticed flames jumping out of a warehouse roof. He called firefighters who arrived at 5:53 p.m., assistant fire Chief Tom Orth said. With help from the Albany Fire Department, firefighters contained the blaze by 6:33 p.m., Orth said.
A wooden office inside the warehouse is primary what was burned.
The business, Hawkins and Hawkins, makes street signs for cities and counties, most of which are in California.
It is not known how soon the fire damage will be cleaned up for the warehouses to reopen, said Hawkins and Hawkins manager Patrick Hackett.
The cause of the fire has not yet been determined but appears to have been accidental and not related to the heat, Orth said.
