CA Battalion Chief Spots Smoke, Finds Burning Townhouse

Three people sustained minor injuries after a hot plate sparked a fire inside an Oakland townhouse Tuesday, fire officials said.

Oakland Battalion Chief James Bowron was driving near MacArthur Boulevard and Green Acre Road in the Redwood Heights neighborhood when he spotted smoke coming from a row of townhouses shortly before 5 p.m. Bowron called for backup and went to examine the source of the smoke, he told The Chronicle on Tuesday evening.

Bowron found residents fleeing the building. Two adults and a young child sustained burns after flames broke out on the second floor of a townhouse, he said.

One adult was transported to a local hospital for treatment.

The fire appeared to have been sparked by a hot plate in a bedroom, Bowron said.

Responding firefighters ran a fire hose through the gate and up to the second floor, where heavy smoke and flames engulfed a bedroom. Fire crews extinguished the flames within 30 minutes.

Bowron alerted the Red Cross, which assisted the three burn victims who were displaced from their apartment following the fire.

"Any type of cooking or heating element should be used in the kitchen on a hard surface away from combustible or flammable objects," he said.

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