Shortly before 5am, a four-alarm fire started at a six-story construction site on the 2400 block of Valdez Street near Grand Avenue in the Lake Merritt district.
As of 8:30am, Oakland Fire Department officials said the fire is 85% contained, but dozens of firefighters remain on the scene.
The building, a mixed-use complex called the Alta Waverly, was completely engulfed in flames. Part of the structure has collapsed into a street, and a crane was spinning, but has not collapsed.
Residents in the area have been evacuated, and no injuries have been reported.
VIDEO: A crane was seen spinning out of control in this morning massive structure fire in Oakland. https://t.co/SAHXpEziQB pic.twitter.com/chu6qAPtwn
— ABC7 News (@abc7newsbayarea) July 7, 2017
Video: ABC7/Twitter
Located at Valdez & 23rd, the Alta Waverly is developing 196 market-rate apartments and up to 31,000 square feet of retail space. Smoke was visible from several miles away; ABC7 reports that ash and embers landed on cars on the other side of Lake Merritt.
Cars covered in ash and embers on the other side of Lake Merritt as a result of this morning's fire in #Oakland #abc7now pic.twitter.com/WaMd2MKTa1
— Kate Eby (@blueeyed_kate) July 7, 2017
Kamilah Mims, who lives in a building on Waverly Street next to the garage of the building that caught fire, told Bay City News she was asleep when the fire began.
"We were sleeping around 5 am when we heard a woman screaming there was a fire across the street," she said. Mims said she grabbed her kitten, Kango, and evacuated her building.
"We were scared, because we weren't sure if it would spread or what would happen if the building came down," she said. "I'm happy it didn't spread."
Embers flew about a mile from this morning's fire in #Oakland #ABC7now pic.twitter.com/9QuZgANKk1
— Kate Eby (@blueeyed_kate) July 7, 2017
