Features

Hot Time on Adeline 

Berkeley firefighters rushed to an apartment building at 3252 Adeline St. at 11:13 a.m. Monday morning to battle a burning sofa on a burning balcony. 

Deputy Fire Chief David Orth said he suspects the sofa fire resulted from the effects of wind on a smoldering cigarette butt. 

The interior sprinkler contained the flames when they started to spread to the interior of the building and firefighters quickly extinguished the balcony blaze. 

Two building residents were treated on the scene for the effects of smoke inhalation. 

Orth estimated the damage to the balcony and one apartment unit at $30,000. Besides the occupants of the affected unit, no other residents were rendered temporarily homeless by the blaze, Orth said. 

And Almost Another 

Ten minutes before the Adeline fire, another crew rushed to the corner of Kentucky and Maryland avenues in the Berkeley hills, where a construction crew accidentally ruptured a four-inch gas main. 

Because of the severe fire danger, a full crew was required to stand by for the 90 minutes it took to repair the breach. 

“Fortunately, we didn’t have another fire at the same time,” said Orth. 

Roof Repair Ignites Wall 

A roofer doing repair work on a sun porch at 116 Southampton Ave. last Tuesday apparently triggered a smoldering blaze inside one wall of the adjoining home, which residents only discovered at 11 p.m. that night when they began to smell smoke. 

Orth said firefighters had to open a sizable section of wall to extinguish the blaze. 

Chimney Catches Fire 

Residents of 1554 Acton St. discovered their chimney was ablaze at 8:49 a.m. Wednesday, and by the time firefighters left, they were facing a hefty charge for an inspection and the possibility of a bigger bill for repairs. 

“It’s amazing that people let creosote build up in their chimneys,” Orth said, “but fires like this aren’t that uncommon in Berkeley.”