oakland. right off of broadway in the auto row area of oakland. you are looking at live images as firefighters try to contain the flames and you can see just kind of the blackened middle of the building. bob redell on scene we understand right now. what are you seeing and hearing from oaklands. >> reporter: good morning. i'm actually still enroute in my car. but i can tell you that this fire was visible 15 miles away. as i was heading north on 880, first noticed a large plume of smoke roughly around the castro valley with a look of being a wildfire. now in the downtown area. you can can see the plume rapidly rising among the high-rise buildings approaching looks like bart headquarters here and maybe the kaiser permanente building. my point is that this fire is so large it's visible from a good

chunk of the bay area. it is something this people going to this morning are going to be talking about because it's very visible from the freeways and especially given the fact we have a clear weather day in terms of visibility. but i'll be on scene within moments. >> bob, as you get closer and closer to the fire in the downtown area, a lot of smoke there, as well? i would imagine you can smell it. >> reporter: not necessarily from where i'm at, laura, just because i see the smoke is rising in the air and an inversion that's keeping it kind of flat. looks like several hundred feet of altitude. but a couple blocks away, i don't smell anything right now. looks like a chimney effect and just kind of hanging there in the air. that's the reason it's so visible so far away. >> that's interesting that you say that, bob. just kind of a visual of seeing the smoke and the fire of where you are in a direct vertical direction above the building.

as far as winds are concerned, seems calm? >> reporter: yes. now i'm on the scene at cathedral of oakland and navigate here and figure out where to go. we have several streets, opd now, several streets surrounding the fire blocked off. i'm at -- where am i? grand avenue here trying to navigate on to the scene. right next to lake merritt. the police presence around here is remarkable. they have several blocks blocked off. people in the park at lake merritt. again, a couple of blocks away watching this fire here. all i can see is smoke from my vantage point. but definitely heavy law enforcement presence to keep the traffic out of here. and as i try to navigate to get closer, we'll get a better sense of what it's like actually on the scene where the fire is happening. >> sounds good.

we'll give you a chance to get there, get information and get back to us. thank you very much. nbc bay area's bob redell approaching the scene of the fire. let's check in with nbc bay area's meteorologist rob mayeda checking the and whatnot for us in that area. rob? >> as you look at the street side view of looks like the collapsed portions of that building falling on the streets below, you can see the smoke moving up away from the ground in a vertical. and then taking you further out, see the smoke fanned out over downtown lo lo. bob mentioned the inversion. lifting away from the ground and as soon as that pocket of hotter air encounters air slightly warmer than it directly above, it stops rising and then flattens out and carried by upper level wind off to the east and southeast so some ash and embers drifting away from downtown oakland and falling off towards the east and southeast. so surface level wind not all that strong as you see there are temperatures in the low 60s,

jnly winds out of the northwest from 5 to 10 miles per hour. but the issue out there obviously will be some of those embers and ash that is still cascading just off to the east and southeast downtown oakland. back to you. >> thank you very much for the bay area latest here. here's the picture that we have seen from earlier this morning. we had it up there for a moment showing you the fire from a distance and there was a huge glow across the area there in oakland. even when the fire first broke out. this is pictures from nbc bay area live sky ranger overhead with the crews now that daylight upon us, a better perspective and vantage of the area and firefighters trying to tackle the fire. >> you see a portion of the frame there building just collapsed and we have seen images of cars on fire. there was a white pickup truck right across the street from the building here that caught fire. so did a home that was right next to this construction building, as well. the last time we saw it, there was still some smoke pouring from the top of the roof there.

but otherwise, it seems like they have contained the fire right now within the confines of the frame itself. a very scary situation as you wake up with us this morning. 6:05 right now on your friday. for over an hour now, we have been covering this fire in oakland. it was a two-alarm fire. immediately upgraded to a three-alarm fire. firefighters getting on scene and pouring party from different angles. laura, the viewers responding with what they see, as well. >> this looks like a perspective inside a home close to the fire. waking up to that glow and an inferno right next door. we appreciate your calls and pictures that you have been sending in to us, as well. those that we have been seeing on social media. saexs have been in place. what we know about the building itself, it was one under construction. a residential-type building. so the threat of people actually being in there or possibly working on it at this hour, we have heard no reports of any injuries so far.

that's the good news in this fire. and they continue to try to tackle it. we have seen a big change in the over an hour covering here on nbc bay area. of just containment of this fire. trying to keep it within the perimeters of that block area. and even the smoke changing, as well. it was thick, black, billing. changing now the color, as well. >> yeah. just that whiter colored smoke now and we are going to be touching base with the bay area air quality management district this morning to find out whether or not they issue any warnings for air quality as we have seen all of that smoke pour out this morning. really great vantage point from sky ranger circling the area of oakland, specifically where this is happening is auto row in oakland. a neighborhood there that's been targeted by the city for all sorts of new development, both for the retail of things and for residential homes, apartments and you are seeing right now a building on fire that was under construction and we have learned that that was a building that was going to be apartments.

it was because it is completely destroyed at this point although i'll say, laura, we are seeing very sizable differences now in terms of just the strength of the flames from what we were looking at even 20 minutes. >> oh yeah. big difference we have seen in just the over an hour now covering the fire in that area at valdez and grand for a perspective. close to lake merritt and parking there, businesses, residents. there in the heart of downtown of oakland. >> compare and contrast now this is what we're looking at from nbc bay area sky ranger. i understand we have video of earlier to you, as well. just explains why there was so much concern. i mean, a glow of orange taking up the oakland sky as these flames spread quickly and consumed the entire building that's under con and it is very large. taking up more or less an entire

city block in oakland. there's a crane that caught fire at one point, as well. you see the of the flames from this building at valdez and 24th street with all of those surrounding homes. the crane was twirling around with the wind. caught fire at one point. collapsing elements of the building. thankfully we have not seen anything like that really in the last ten or 15 minutes but the city of oakland was concerned. the fire department and the city police were concerned enough not just to block off a bunch of roads around the building but mandatory evacuations for people who are living nearby. we got some great video from the viewers. that is example of some of it here or at least from some of our crews on scene, as well, showing you what it looked like on the ground level. >> you can see the size of the building, as well. not only cover a city block but it was a tall building that had been under construction no doubt for quite sometime now. earlier, maybe an hour ago when the fire was first breaking out and reported.

it was burning hot, burning fast and firefighters actually had all of the cranes up trying to tackle it from above. you have done a great job of it's been burning inword and the construction materials falling inward and help the residents businesses in the area. this is the difference of before and after, an hour here. >> huge difference. absolutely huge difference and i would say at one point taking the fire hoses and row taiting so the flames did not create a problem. you can't see a hose from this vantage point and poured on the top. see the very tip of it there. on top of a home that did catch fire. saw smoke out of the top of the house and seems like they have it under control at this point and hearing reports that people were forced to leave their home, not just mandatory evacuations but before then. had to leave as flames threatened or did spread to

where they live. >> oh, and you can understand most certainly because of the, you know, how big the fire was, the danger that it posed to nearby businesses and residents. broke out. really the middle of the night. sleeping, 5:00 in the morning. but evacuations have been ordered in that area, as well. nbc bay area sky ranger giving us a great perspective. we have crews on the ground, as well. gathering information right now. as to how the fire started, a building under construction, we don't know. no doubt the investigation will continue in the coming days. >> we have i believe bob redell now on scene and on the phone. he was trying to get as close as he could. what have you learned? >> reporter: several blocks around this fire are shut down and can't even get in there. what i would consider to be a more smaller fire. you can usually walk up to the battalion chief, the fire trucks

themselves. the police cordoned off the area and no one can get in there and an area for the firefighters given the magnitude of the fire to keep this -- get the fire under control. you have seen in the chopper, we can see the flames down significantly. i'm walking around the perimeter and just trying to get a sense of the kind of water spraying on here. at least one aerial and from the ground here on i believe the east side of the fire. excuse me. the south side of the fire. i see what's got to be a ground hose that's spraying just gallons and gallons upon this fire. from the scene, where we are at, there's lots of embers on the ground. all over the cars here. you can definitely smell the smoke and just talking to a police officer was out here just a couple blocks away when the fire was really going and from a couple of blocks away you could feel the heat of the fire and as a matter of fact oakland fire department needed so much more water they have pulled another

line across the street to lead to hydrants shutting off some of the traffic in this area. so as far as the scene itself is concerned, it is contained just so firefighters can be in there and as i mentioned they have oakland police out here ringing the area with the perimeter of yellow crime tape and keeping them out of the scene. >> and no doubt it will be blocked off for quite sometime and the investigation continues as to how it started, how it ignited, as well. are people being cooperative staying away? it is early in the morning. some people are just waking up, bob. >> reporter: say that again. >> people are being cooperative? do you see people on the streets at all? >> reporter: yes. a lot of people out here. given the fact that it's, you know, most people getting up for work. >> thank you. >> reporter: we have a lot of peopling. taking a look to see when's going on and hard not to miss and especially as you get closer and you can see certainly smell it. >> bob, you talk about one of

those fire hoses being poured on one of the buildings next door and looked like an apartment building. do you have a sense of where the flames spread and where active efforts are right now? >> reporter: from what i can see, the most active efforts are on the structure itself. just found another way to get in here now. okay. so what i'm seeing is there's an old house next door they're -- oh, looks like that old house has some fire venting through the roof so they're putting water on this house that's next door and assuming that the radiant heat alone was perhaps what caused this house to start burning a little bit. just seeing smoke coming through the roof and the structure is standing. spraying water on that. i see firefighters -- boy. sitting on the ground. two of them here sitting on the ground with hose between their legs just spraying up on to the fire of the building that's

burning. so at this one area, i have four old homes that are right up against this property that they're trying to protect. spraying water on those and then the actual struck itself where they have been obviously fighting this fire. it looks like they were apartment buildings from what i can see here looking at it from the bottom. >> yeah. that's what we're looking at right now. we see a firefighter on top of a nearby home for a leverage point to try to get to the flames in the center of the abandoned -- excuse me, the building under construction. and, bob, this is just a multi faceted effort here but like you said it seems at this point they're trying to contain the flames and have successfully contained those flames to the building itself under construction. >> reporter: from the vantage point i'm, i believe i'm on the -- let's see. the east side it appears that's the east can w the exception of

that roof of that one home i saw minor venting. th that home is still standing. i can't tell about the west side of the building but from my vantage point, you see how close the homes are. it is quite commendable effort on behalf of the oakland fire department to save the homes. given the fact that the radiant heat alone is so strong and spoken to an oakland police officer and you can feel the heat and imagine what it was like next dorr. >> no doubt. you are giving us the ground perspective of the aerial shots we have been observing this morning as nbc bay area sky ranger overhead, a perspective of how the residential homes are to this apartment building. we understand that it was being constructed there on big city block in oakland. grand and valdez. close to lake merritt, as well. but it's residential, mixed with businesses, a parking structure that's untouched.

this map gives you a better understanding of where this fire is and you can see the smoke from far and wide in the east bay this morning. >> we know this is right next to auto row and a whole series of car dealerships right there. an audi, mitsubishi, an acura. we have not received any reports that the flames have spread to those businesses. all that we have seen from what we have watched from nbc bay area sky ranger is the flames did spread to a house. likely an apartment building next door on the of the corner adjacent to the construction building. what you are seeing here is kind of a split screen in the box to the left-hand corner, that's how aggressive the flames were. at about 5:00 this morning, consuming that structure. >> right. getting the call of the fire, you know, was happening, we turned, we have the big cameras of far away and multiple parts of the bay area and you could see a ginormous glow out there this morning an that was earlier. sam mentioned but this is a more than an hour later.

the largest you see in the center of the screen how that they have been able to tackle the fire. winds cooperating, as well. a fire itself can kind of like, you know, form a vortex within. want bring in meteorologist rob mayeda. you have a good description of that. >> i think saw that with the peak intensity of the fire and the crane rotating almost counter clockwise in the main plume of the fire and see the smoke there from oak lifting away from ground level again. this would have been a different story had you had surface winds northwest 10 to 20 miles per hour. like you would typically get on a mid afternoon day in the summer as the sea breeze picks up. what's kind of interesting is we'll show you the view from fremont and that is a smoke from the oakland fire as it heads higher up into the atmosphere. hits a kind of an invisible lid in the atmosphere. that's aloft. so the smoke begins to fan off towards the east and southeast

and waking up in fremont with smoke in the sky and the origin towards oakland. the smoke over downtown as the winds generally light this morning. though typically on a day like today, hot temperatures inland, increasing in the afternoon. >> the temperatures rise especially inland. approaching what do you think? 90s in the oakland area today? >> oakland, downtown, probably seeing lower 80s but just east of oakland, 90s the stoish and that's a good point, laura, because as the temperatures heat up inland triggers the sea breeze and still obviously if the fire of this size they will have hot spots into the afternoon and the evening and monitor that. winds will be picking up right around 2:00 and 3:00 later today. >> looks like firefighters getting a very handle on this as we have been watching it for quite sometime. really over an hour here. as soon as we got word and brought it to you live with sky ranger bringing you great aerial shots from above. it is declared a four-alarm

fire. it is quickly grown multiple agencies trying to attack this from all angles, not only fight the fire and preventive measures that they can, as well, to save homes and businesses in the area. roads closed off. and people have been told to evacuate. want to bring in vianey in for mike this morning with a perspective on the roads. we know that you can see from multiple freeways far away. >> we can 6:19 and people who have to go to work around this surrounding area give their boss a call because as you mentioned all of the dealerships and the businesses around they still have the roads blocked off around that area. in both directions. and if take a closer look right now at the maps we can see interstate 980, interstate 580 and 880 as bob mentioned he could see the plume of smoke and may start to cause delays on some of the interstates as people begin to see the plume and slow down a bit and drive

safe around the area. >> all right. thank you very much. she shows you the roadblocked off 23rd to 24th street there in oakland. bob redell on the ground trying to snake around to get better access to when's going on right now. at this building that's on fire, this apartment building under -- let's go to bob right now. >> reporter: good morning to you, sam. we're on the east side of this structure that this construction site that was under construction as you can has been destroyed by this fire. you have got oakland fire department with hose lines here just on this side alone. spraying water. you have the firefighter right here to the right. you have another firefighter there to the further right then a ladder hose. this is on the east and northern side of this fire. again, trying to even though you're not seeing as much flames still heat here and concern that still be burning. might still be fuel in there not

burned. see the firefighter taking care of the lets on fire just on the base of this construction project. i was talking to you earl ler about the fours up against this project. looking over here to your -- across the other way to your right, you have the homes here. one right there, that white building, i don't know if you can see debris on it. and i can only imagine the radiant heat earlier. they have been spraying that home because there's concerns that the heat to catch it on fire and some venting from the roof. good morning. >> watch out for the crane. >> okay. thank you. thank you. appreciate it. one of the firefighters from oakland fire department just walked by saying watch out for the crane and the scaffolding and the green stairs and the scaffolding hanging up there. the concern is risk of collapse. that's why we're obviously further behind the firefighters themselves. and that would be a big concern as to one reason why the police department has been keeping civilians out this area for

concerns that the type of stuff falling down. i can show you what's falling down. moving over here, henry, right behind between the building that burned and the house and see the debris fallen so far which gives you another better understanding of what this scene here is so dangerous. but you compare the visuals to now to an hour ago. i think it's -- you got to compliment the efforts of oak and fire department for water on this and the fact that a lot of fuel has burnt. excuse me, chief? hey, a quick question how are you doing? >> i just got here. i have no information. >> reporter: no worries. he just arrived here. trying to get his own bearings set here as you can see the effort with the oakland fire department. again, pouring lots of water on this to get it fully exteng wished. sadly, a part of the reason not seeing as much flame is you were seeing earlier is that i had to

suspect a lot of fuel, a lot of wood just burned. >> bob, sorry, you talk about the fact that they're concerned about some of that scaffolding coming down. we were seeing big chunks of scaffold crumbling in the midst of those flames. have you seen anything recently in ten or 15 minutes to suggest that's still happening? >> reporter: i haven't seen anything, no, sam. except for what we're look at right now. you can see the scaffolding. looking to the right there up against the blue sky and panning to the left you see a lot of it just kind dangling here. there doesn't look like -- i'm not an engineer. doesn't look like anything that's in danger of immediate collapse. but as the heat keeps accelerating and you put more water on this, there's always a risk and hence the reason why it's a defensive posture that the oakland fire department is taking. they're keeping their distance for pretty obvious reasons to stay safe. >> exactly. at this point, saving the

building under construction right now just trying to prevent other buildings from catching fire. you imagine all the scaffolding that's around the building like that and the dangers of the equipment alone can pose. as we have seen it is a crane that they use to build the structures, as well right in the heart and the middle of it also on fire and burning and the threats that the concerns that can be of those -- that equipment just falling. >> also interesting to see how strong those hoses are and the posture of the firefighters sitting on the ground there with the hose spraying from down below straight up trying to get a lot of the hot spots that are tucked into the nooks and crannies of that building. bob redell doing a great job there showing us from all different streets and angles how that has reacted to the treatment from firefighters right now and you see spots of flames but for the most part at this point it's mostly smoke. there were mandatory evacuations that were issued this morning and within the last ten minutes

we found out it was finally upgraded from a three-alarm fire to a four-alarm fire as concern continues about the structural integrity of that building. >> this is a larger perspective from nbc bay area sky ranger that we have been giving you. look at this now. i mean, there was one point this was a really intense inferno building in the middle there but after an hour and nearly an hour and a half fire fight now all that's been kind of dampened down. the flames most of them have been put out at this point. a lot of hot spots, though. you can see the interior of the building still burning. no doubt firefighters thereby there for quite sometime not only making sure the hot spots are out. >> we don't know what caused that fire. this, by the way, is a picture. looks like coming in from john gridly from san francisco. at the height of this fire. you can see the thick, black smoke that was coming out

dominating the skyline as the sun was starting to rise there. that great perspective. one of the greatest views in san francisco from diamond heights there. that's where we got that shot from john showing us just a visuals of this from all over the bay area. we had bob redell driving in seeing the smoke from castro valley. it was an expansive fire that dominating the san francisco skyline. the oakland skyline. and we are now seeing real progress from oakland firefighters who have been working on this since the early 5:00 hour. >> that's right. these pictures give you a perspective from earlier when we have been on air since 4:30 and 5:00 the call of the structure fire in oakland and this is what it looked like. you could see from across the bay. just a big, glow of this building this's been under construction. it's at grand near valdez. pretty close to lake merritt to give you a perspective. near auto in this area where there are homes, businesses and there was a threat at one point

of the fire spreading but firefighters there have been able to keep it fairly contained. we have seen some residential home close to the fire with smoke coming out of the roof top. at this point. but they have been able to contain it and really the big difference that you see in this fire, these pictures from earlier, to about an hour and a half later of all the hard work they have been doing to try to contain and keep this fire from spreading. >> i'm very encouraged by the fact that there was initially a hose dedicated to just the rooftop of a nearby apartment building and smoke coming out of the roof there. the flames spread. that is no longer the case. a second ago taking the nbc bay area sky ranger shot you saw they were no longer pouring water on the house and another one on the bottom of the screen getting water treatment now and difficult to find glows of orange in the midst of that. you see on the ground of the building there's still plenty of

fire but this is just enormous progress from where we were only an hour or an hour and a half ago and firefighters did a yoman's job here making sure that people were protected, that they were evacuated and the flames didn't spread to the nearby businesses and homes because you mentioned, laura, auto row, the dealerships and the residents. >> downtown area and you know how tightly packed everything is there and the firefighters doing what they're doing an it's been a valiant fight for them. it's a huge building. we have seen it down to the ground practically and very, very tall structure. we could make it out when the fire first broke out but you just see layers and layers of construction of kind of like dissipate into the center of the building and that was a good job by them, as well. you want it to fall inwards, as well. we know that it was being developed. it was set to be an apartment complex. as to how it started, we don't

know. no injuries to report so far and we're hoping that remains the case as no firefighters will be injured, as well. tough the fight the fires. >> it really is. there's a car on fire there, as well. this is video from earlier when the flames spread to cars nearby, to the debris. that was cast aside on the there. and we did see firefighters during bob's live shot a second ago standing close to that building. so again, another encouraging sign as they're worried about the integrity of the building and scaffolding collapsing and really trying to keep it propped up, get the flamed extinguished and get the folks to a position of safety in that part of oakland. you have been watching "today in the bay." reports of this fire burning in oakland started at about 5:00 this morning with the kroous immediately sent to the scene and bob redell live there on the

ground as we continue to take these overhead aerial shots from nbc bay area sky ranger. what are you seeing on the ground, bob? >> reporter: oakland fire department, talking about four homes here. they're on the east side of the fire an apparently there's more homes on the other side just as compactly tight, tight in to this building as these are. and he was telling me that they saved the homes. you see one home here that the white cream colored one with a small hose and there was some issues with radiant heat and as far as the home is concerned, it is saved. i asked him, do you have concerns about scaffolding collapse? just on the east side at right now him just looking at it said, no. he does believe there's scaffold collapse on the other side. the issue right now and he confirmed this and quite obvious is there that there's nothing left to burn and burned to the ground. there's no wood or any fuels left. right now, spraying water just to keep any hot spots flaring

up. it's out because the fuel is gone. when the fire first reported it came in as light smoke on the roof and they actually had at least one firefighter up there. interior attack and something happened and they realized to go on the defensive oi not be able to keep it under control and too dangerous and hence the reason why you have loads of water being sprayed from the outside from a defensive posture for the oakland fire department. this captain didn't know what the cause was. again, just that it was light smoke on the roof when the fire was first reported. we have seen a couple of firefighters like this one here, they're on the ground. just making it easier to hold the hose and to get the proper angle coming to getting that water on the fire. again, something that we have seen at least on a couple of sides of the we ter. i'm going to try to walk over here. i just spotted a chief and see if i can get a little bit more

information on this fire that's been burning at this construction site well over an hour right now. he's conferring with the captain, with the oakland fire department. i don't want to interfere because their jobs more important than what i'm trying to do. as you look on this side, again, i think the tickaw takeaway is debris of the construction site. you had that debris coming down on fire and yet the fire department given the proximity of that home and the amount of heat off that fire they were able to save these homes and i asked the captain, i said that's pretty impressive. he looked at the lieutenant saying the guys did a really, really good job. >> no doubt, bob. very valiant effort. and, you know, just shows the comradery of the departments, as well. just getting word that alameda county covering the oakland stations while the oakland firefighters are trying to

tackle this fire, as well. >> that is wonderful to hear. that collaboration of agencies and what an interesting viewpoint right here focusing on the firefighter down on the ground using that as leverage for a better angle to try to address the spot flames that have come up in the portions of the building still on fire and what an incredible look at all of the debris right on the street there that it collapsed off the building, piles and piles of debris sitting there right next to the homes and as bob redell reported, oakland firefighters to save the homes, prevent the flames from spreading to the point where the people living there could have lost their residences. just a great job this morning by oakland fire and continuing right now to address the fire. looks like there's a rainbow in the middle of the screen as the effort continues. >> finding something in everything. they mentioned light smoke and how it was first reported to come in as bob told us. they sent a firefighter to the top to try to tackle it but obviously it's a site under

construction and so much fuel to go out. they quickly pulled him back and then just bush administration that defensive mode they have had to take in tackling this fire. it start add little bit after 5:00 this morning at van des and grand and close to lake merritt. it was a building under construction but you can see from the aerials here and the ground shot, as well, that it's a residential area. a downtown oakland. it's an auto row that's close to there. lots of businesses and compact. >> it is come. it was serious enough at one point looking at the video of earlier this morning and the flames when they were raging in the 5:00 hour it was serious enough that they not only issued mandatory evacuations but upgraded the fire from a three alarm to a four-alarm fire last 15 minutes or so. bob redell doing the job of getting us as much information from the ground this morning. what are you learning right now? >> reporter: we were going to

the south side of the fire and a fire truck here. 23rd and waiver ri. started to see a lot of smoke from the building. presumably -- well, hard to tell why. looks like maybe the plasting sheeting that's burning. some of the construction sheeting. but again, you have another firefighter here. who's been positioned here since we have been here for at least 30, 45 minutes. and you can get a sense of the attack the oakland fire department has been putting on this fire. you had three lines on the east side and partially on the north. three more here on the north side and then southwestern corner where you have another line so that's six lines and i can't imagine what's on the other side and gives you a sense of the upper and the kind of response you're going to see when you have a fire of this magnitude, especially in an urban area where you have got tightly packed structures. fortly, this parking garage is

concrete. it will have a bad paint job and structurally no reason to believe it's affected by this. but again, here we are on the western side of the -- excuse me. the southern side of the apartment complex where there's still it looks like still fuel to burn and a reason why they're focusing on this. you have this plastic sheeting and it looks like you have flammable materials in there. hey, lieutenant, how's it going? >> not bad. >> reporter: not bad? you feel like you have this side covered okay? >> we're doing pretty good. >> reporter: all right. you saved the structures outside of this? >> sorry. no comment. >> no worries. that's the lieutenant monitoring the men and women out here manning the lines. we are downwind right now and definitely an of the mist and the amount of water that is in area. this is the side that probably burned last.

considering the side is so much more destroyed. so i'm just talking now. not knowing 100% but just wondering if the fire started on the northern end and moved to the southern end because here you still see what looks like that yellow material. i believe it's drywall and some windows still intact as we walk through the rain shower here of all of this water sprayed out of the fire. again, you got a sense of the effort that oakland fire -- okay. now i'm -- here we are on the west side. now you can see more damage. this is the scaffolding that the captain was talking about. you can see it fell clearly in the street at valdez. you have four ground lines and two aerial leans. a total of six lines on the western exposure and as you get to the side here, you can take a look and see this is where the building suffered the most destruction as it -- the upper

part including the scaffolding fell right into the street. and again, you ire ju're just ga great sense of the effort of oakland fire department into putting this fire out and keeping it contained. to reiterate, we mentioned those four homes on the other side that were within feet of this structure. and they were all saved. one had some minor damage from radiant heat but the structure is still there. and it is -- it was saved. i see looks like we have a structure on stand by over here which is probably something you would normally have in a situation like this of so much potential for injury but as far as we know right now there have been no injuries among the firefighters or the civilians. in this area. again, valdez and 23rd where the oakland fire department seems to be putting a lot of their effort in terms of water. look up. now we are getting a view of the crane. that construction crane up there. the captain did mention earlier,

not only worried of scaffolding coming down, but that crane, as well. they don't know obviously haven't blood pressure able to see how it's affected the fire. looks fine right now. i don't see leaning and tilting and something he did bring up, concern about that, that crane. >> and no doubt there will be a great concern as they try to investigate even how the fire started. you have a lot of equipment as we mentioned. the scaffolding luckily enough falling into the street and the area that wasn't close to homes but we know on the other side of the building, covers a big block there, there are homes right up to the side of the bidding. >> rows and rows of homes, bob. speaking to the just density of that area. howly packed everything is. and you could just see as he laid it out for us the six or seven fire hoses that were being used there to try to put out the flames. here you have a firefighter on the roof top of a nearby home axing something perhaps better access in the home. >> release that.

>> get the smoke out, exactly. we are seeing this from all different sorts of vantage points and oakland firefighters trying to extinguish the flames and clear out that smoke but bob mentioned the homes nearby, the great risk that existed this morning for the flames to spread and catch fire there, they contain it and stop it from happening before anybody lost their home. >> amazing to see the efforts of firefighters trying to tackle this fire of a building that was under construction at valdez and grand adjacent buildings, the homes in the area, trying to extee extinguish the sparks or flames or whatnot. what we found so far is that all of the homes in the area have been saved. construction site, as well. that is a total loss. as to how the fistarted, we don

know. bob redell trying to get some information from the people maybe out there in that area. bob, i don't know if you can hear us right now. trying to talk to that person. we'll continue to stay on his shot right now gathering information and talking to bah toll i don't know chiefs out there and see the firefighters. thises a ex-hausive effort for them, as well. >> it is. you mentioned the fact that no homes were lost. as a result of this fire. there's also a ton of businesses right there. this is the auto row neighborhood of oakland. you have audi, mitsubishi and an avis car rental right there and no reports that the businesses were affected. we saw a second ago bob redell interviewing the people nearby. bob? >> reporter: i was talking to a gentleman off camera who works at this site. tells me it was an apartment building. working here for six months. what is your reto seeing your six months of work like this? >> sad, my friend. sad. oh yeah. working way too hard working

really hard on this? do you have any idea what might have happened? the fire captain told me it was light smoke on the roof. do you know what was on the roof? >> i don't know i don't know, man. it was nothing on the roof. >> reporter: nothing on the roof? >> nothing. >> reporter: was there any power in the building or anything to think of that might have led to this starting? >> not really. >> reporter: do you know if there's been any problems on the site? >>. i don't -- i don't think so. >> reporter: no? okay. >> no, sir. >> reporter: what do you do now? >> going back home. >> reporter: going back home? >> going back to portland. we are from portland, oregon. >> reporter: have you talked to your foreman? >> yeah. right there. >> reporter: i'm sorry it happened and glad you're safe. take care. >> thank you. >> reporter: all right. this telling me that this was an apartment complex that was under construction. working here for six months and just sad to see that his work and presuming the income is

temporarily halted because of this fire that a fire captain told us he believes started light smoke on the roof overnight. the cause undetermined. don't know if it's accidental or something suspicious but you can see for the oakland fire department this is one of those fires that these firefighters i'm presuming remember for a long time given the magnitude of the fire and the amount of response and the effort just on this side alone. you are seeing alone seven fire lines dousing water on this fire and focusing on this corner because this is aer that has not burned yet. or it has and still fuel left and that's why there's concern that this could -- start seeing flames again and i'm sure there's a lot of heat in there and perhaps flames we can't see right now. >> yeah, no doubt. giving us one great perspective

and thank you for that. it's interesting to see the construction workers showing up for work and the work they have done on the building under construction for at least six months as bob just heard from that crew on the scene. >> there's always layers of response here. certainly public safety at first seeing the flames break out and worried about the flames spreading to homes and getting people evacuated. but as the public safety risk wanes, we empathize with the people working on the building for six months long. all of that is lost. and we do not know --'ll emphasize, we don't know the cause of the fire and seen several incidents in the area where buildings caught fire, construction buildings caught fire, and they're considered to be suspicious and under investigation. we'll see where the investigation for this particular building moves forward for this. >> the good news, home saved, as

well in the area. no injuries to report so far. at valdez and grand happening very close to lake merritt. the pictures giving you a great perspective of what it looked like. earlier in the morning. talking about an hour and 45 minutes ago. and compared to the smaller screen on the upper left now of the valiant fire fight by firefighters out there. very tough, as well. the winds said to be cooperating in the area. not sending a lot of embers out there. meteorologist rob mayeda joins us now. you have had a great perspective on that. >> yeah. we have been watching the latest on the fire now and looks like a combination of steam and smoke leaving oakland but you can see the smoke cloud from fremont and even across from the bay bridge. seeing the smoke across the east bay. interesting from the g-16 satellite this morning. it was a satellite detecting temperatures of 891.6 degrees

kelvin, roughly 1,045 degrees fahrenheit. that heat signature detected from space from that oakland fire at 5:22 this morning. here's the lasting effect. the smoke from the bay bridge toll plaza towards the south and during the day today watch the win. notice san temperatures in the 70s today. late day sea breeze to pick up after a hot day inland. oakland closer to 80 but across the valleys today, the numbers in the upper 90s. now the fire having a lasting impact here's vainey. >> nothing on the roads this morning. here's the wide view of the bay area. we have seen minor fender benders. for a perspective. see interstate 880. the plume of smoke from there and kind of zoom in a bit more and see, of course, they have all of those areas blocked off and it looks they have them blocked off in both directions and i would imagine as this

investigation continues, the roads remain blocked in the area and more traffic begins to build to see some slight delays out of the area. >> all right. thank you. it is a ground perspective right now. firefighters on the roof of an adjacent building and trying to get down there with the axes and the hose in there and kind of quell any hot spots they have. >> they have a little geyser almost of water up there against the side of the bid as they try to get all the smoke out and make sure the flames extinguished in a nearby building. bob redell is covering this with us. he's spoke b with construction workers, folks displaced as a result of the fire. what are you learning right? >> reporter: i'm standing by the command post where you have got four battalion chiefs with their dry erase boards out here. they have a good vantage point of the fire where to put their men and women. where to put their equipment.

trying to get information but they're super busy. 23rd and valdez. looks like the upper floors looking at a garage there concrete and didn't burn for obvious reasons and above that all wood. and other building materials. and that for the most part is all gone. one reason why they're focusing on this specific corner, you can see why, there's still plastic material and there is some building materials and one corner not fully burned yet. as compare it to the other parts of the structure. if you look to the left down, the street there in the middle, beyond the firefighters, you can see debris. that is scaffolding and other material that collapsed during the fire. that according to a fire captain telling me that it started the light smoke on the roof. overnight. and they are able to get at least one firefighter up there. so they're trying to do an

interior attack. i'm assuming that the fire was too great. they pulled out. went on the defensive and this is a situation where you have right now where you have several fire lines, most of them concentrated here on the western side. again, trying to keep this fire from flaring back up. you see smoke over there. there's heat and possibly flame in that debris. they don't want it out of control again. >> no doubt they have to get a handle on this. and then the investigation will be starting, as well. thank you very much. on the phone right now, we have oakland city council woman. this is your district. so we understand that this was a building that was under construction. it was an apartment structure? i know you have seen a lot of growth in that area. >> yep. condo, over retail. part of the broadway specific plan and we hope that the investigation will go quickly and that they can restore worker on, resume work on this important project. >> ma'am, can we ask you? what was the thought process in

terms of evacuating folks in the area? we saw how aggressive the flames were initially and saw the fire spread to nearby homes. bring us inside kind of the war room there. what were you thinking and how did you come to that conclusion? >> i don't get to make those calls and privileged to have some of the most amazing first responders, the fire fighting teams are there. our interim chief darren white is hands on and i believe, you know, incident command, everybody is down there and worked with oakland police to evacuate the buildings where we thought there would be risk. gratefully the fire is contained. we want people in the area who work and live in the area to be cognizant of the compromised air quality this morning. if you have sensitivities to breathing, if you're in an older building, make sure you're securing the windows with towels to limit the smoke intrusion and that you take care of yourself.

>> very, very good advice. heart breaking to see this for you. development for a city is very good. but definitely setback this morning. thank you for joining us. we're going to take a quick break and continue to follow the concerns of this massive oakland building fire this morning. you're watching "today in the bay."

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here are the top stories on today welcome back. 6:53 on the friday morning. we have been providing you coverage all morning long of a

huge fire in oakland this morning that broke out sometime in the early 5:00 hour. we have been bringing you live coverage and major progress made over the course of the morning because, laura, when we first looked a this the at about 5:00 this morning it was raging flames. >> it was an apartment building other businesses that was actually on construction. that caught fire. at 24th and des near lake merritt. you can see it from there. nbc bay area's bob redell on the ground gathering information for us. >> reporter: good morning to you, laura and sam. sadly, this is what sun rise looks like in oakland this friday morning. you are looking at what used to be a large apartment complex under construction destroyed. a fire captain said it was light smoke on the roof of the project. they actually had a firefighter, at least one up there. had to pull back, go on the defense as this fire --

>> all right. looks like we lost his microphone. as the fire raged on. initially, they did send one firefighter to the roof of the bidding. but then they had to then take the defense position because it became an inferno. they had a lot of construction equipment dealing with. scaffolding on the side. there was a crane in the middle that was spinning for quite sometime. the good news is that all of the residents in this area, all the homes have been spared by the valiant effort of firefighters out there who have been working on the fire. started about 5:00 this morning. >> bob actually told us about ten minutes ago or so materials on fire. the firefighters were concern about, building materials and plastics and saw them behind him in that live shot a second ago. strategizing as to where to go from here but the most important thing to stress right now is homes on the perimeter of this building. obviously a very dense area of oakland. this is auto row in oakland.

businesses right by. one side of that apartment building under construction. homes dotting the perimeter and contain the flames and prevent there being any emergency for folks living nearby. >> you can see why. the big screen in the center right there, this is what it looked like at the height of the fire at about 5:00 this morning burning fast, hot. and it was threatening those residential homes in the area there. firefighters at one point to put the hoses on additional homes. no one was injured in the fire fight so far. of course, the building that was under construction is lost so that is setting the city back a little bit and trying to revamp this area. >> yep. a lot of investment there for apartment buildings, retail spaces and that was an area that was kind of penciled by the city of oakland as a great opportunity to provide more housing for people. clearly something that's decemberly needed desperately needed in oakland and firefighters chatting right there but as it was pulled out a

second ago you could see the fire hose still dousing water on the top of the building and an active effort still from multiple angles the try to quell the last flames centered in the middle of the building. >> now turning to the whiter form of smoke right now billowing into the area. not a lot of wind to report in the area. rob mayeda had a good perspective on that earlier. >> watching the smoke and steam moving up and aand way from the site this morning. winds relatively light at the surface but higher upper with seeing the smoke plume kind of move off towards the east and southeast. showing you the current conditions, 61 degrees, wind northwest at 3 and where the ash and any leftover embers are cascading away from where that fire is and interesting seeing the view. weather satellite at 5:22 detected a heat signature of 1100 degrees fahrenheit. >> amazing. >> detected from space.

that was a massive plume of fire there. later on this afternoon, oak land, close to 80 degrees. the valleys seeing temperatures in the upper 90s and that will trigger the sea breeze which will mean the winds pick up and watching for hot spots around that fire there in oakland. san francisco, warmest day of seven today. highs in the low 70s. >> and you know what, rob? the efforts focused this morning on this fire in oakland. but originally, we were going to provide coverage of what's going on in yolo county near winters. there are wildfires, seen a spade of them pop up in a couple of days and the dry conditions and the heat stale real issue right now. >> the fire danger transitions to the hills and valleys. humidity levels today below 25% and very dry conditions. winds, too, increasing later today. >> all right. we know the focus of the oakland fire department obviously this building under construction and these are giving you a live aerial shots from nbc bay area sky ranger. this is a perspective of -- from

san. across the bay. it was amazing. when this fire first broke out, we got word of it after 5:00 this the morning and it was enormous. you could see it from far away, the freeway, as well. that could cause a distraction for people. vaine is filling in for mike today and we know that the roads in that area directly around the fire closed. >> closed and for now it looks like that's the biggest impact of biggest of people getting to work near that area. yes, as you mentioned, bob mentioning, an of smoke from 880 and 580 an if you notice 980 and that could cause a distraction and turned that off for now and as it continues to be an investigation i think that the areas around the building will remain on lockdown and you have to call in to work, let your boss know and probably everybody knows. so go ahead and take some extra time this morning. >> now the investigation is beginning.

>> we don't know the cause of fire. that's important. we can tell you no reports of ji ris. we are happy to hear that. we'll keep you updated throughout the morning. for now the "today" show starts. erdog err jean-claude ju good morning. so much to discuss. but will russia's meddling in the u.s. election be on the agenda? we're live in hamburg, where tensions are high amid growing protests. more trouble in the skies. a frightening scene playing out on a delta flight. a first-class passenger accused of assaulting a flight attendant. the plane forced to turn around as other passengers struggled to subdue him. tw