Fire crews work on still-smoldering debris from Emeryville complex

Firefighters stamped out pockets of burning debris Sunday from the still-smoldering remains of a massive building project in Emeryville gutted by fire.

Neighbors along the 3800 block of San Pablo Avenue stopped to stare at the twisted heap of metal and blackened lumber as investigators began working to determine the cause and origin of the inferno.

“It’s a little scary — fires are dangerous,” Valerie Jackson said as she sipped her morning coffee along a fence near where smoke still billowed from the charred heap.

Still on her mind were several major fires in the East Bay, including a blaze that destroyed the very same construction project in July.

A massive fire broke out at a building on the 3800 block of San Pablo Ave. in Emeryville, Saturday, May 13, 2017. A massive fire broke out at a building on the 3800 block of San Pablo Ave. in Emeryville, Saturday, May 13, 2017. Photo: Jessica S. Oh Photo: Jessica S. Oh Image 1 of / 53 Caption Close Fire crews work on still-smoldering debris from Emeryville complex 1 / 53 Back to Gallery

“It’s crazy,” she said. “It’s almost as if someone didn't want it up.”

The building’s developer seemed to agree and is convinced two fires in less than a year isn’t a coincidence. Investigators, though, will wait until their weeks-long probe is complete before drawing any conclusions about how the fire started.

The fire, which was reported at 4:58 a.m. Saturday, engulfed the $35 million housing and retail development known as the Intersection near Interstate 580 and the Oakland border. It spread to nearby buildings, forcing evacuations and causing additional damage, officials said.

At least 35 residents from 15 units were evacuated from the neighboring block of Adeline Street because officials worried that the partially burned crane at the construction site would collapse. Alameda County Fire Department tweeted early Sunday that crews safely removing the crane overnight under the supervision of agents from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Between 80 and 100 firefighters responded from the Alameda County and Oakland fire departments to battle the huge blaze, with firefighters using cranes to dump water on the fire as black smoke billowed into the sky.

The Oakland Fire Department deployed 15 engines, three trucks and three battalion chiefs, while Alameda County sent four engines, a truck, two battalion chiefs, a fire captain and a public information officer, said Oakland Battalion Chief Zoraida Diaz.

There were no reports of injuries, though some security guards said they suffered some smoke inhalation.

The cause was under investigation, but Rick Holliday of Holliday Development, the company developing the site, said he doesn’t believe that two major fires within 10 months of each other could happen by chance.

“This is obviously arson,” he said, frustrated. “This is an attack on housing.”

Diaz said investigators don’t know yet where the fire originated within the building. When fire crews arrived, the entire building was already engulfed, with each individual floor “fully involved.”

“We don’t know if it was intentional because it’s still under investigation,” she said.

The upscale residential and commercial development is being built in a rapidly changing part of Emeryville.

The neighborhood, just north of Interstate 580, is a mix of retail strip malls, old storefronts and warehouses along San Pablo Avenue and sleek new multistory apartment and condominium buildings erected over the past few years.

To the south and west, the site is flanked by mostly older single-family houses, many of them badly in need of repair.

The fire damaged more than just the construction site on Saturday, with flames jumping to some of the townhomes on nearby Apgar Street.

Orly Zamir, 26, who moved into one of the town houses in January, said her roommate woke up first and ran to get her.

“‘Get up, the building is on fire, we have to run out,’” she said her roommate told her. “I opened my eyes, and all I saw was orange.”

Zamir’s window faced out toward the construction site, and she could feel the heat from the growing flames as they reached toward her home.

“We have a sunroof between our bedrooms, and it was melting,” Zamir said, her voice shaking. “Everything is gone.”

Fire crews had to be sent to other nearby residential areas, as strong winds carried embers blocks away, threatening homes and charring vegetation. On Market Street between 34th and 35th streets, neighbors said embers the size of grapefruits fell from the sky onto buildings, blackening tall trees and covering the area with ash.

Just before 9 a.m. Saturday, the roof of a house near 34th Street caught fire, but firefighters were able to keep the flames from spreading to other homes.

Jie Tang, 56, said through a translator that he woke to the crackling of flying embers. When he looked outside, he saw flames rising from the Intersection project. He watched as an ember fell on the roof of an abandoned house next to his.

“Big fire, embers everywhere, the whole sky,” he said. “Cars moving and all the embers following the cars everywhere. It was so scary.”

Ira Gibson, 40, said he woke to an ember flying into his home on 36th Street, a block from the big fire. He grabbed a hose and started spraying down his backyard and roof.

Firefighters told residents to evacuate and helped escort out some of his neighbors, he said. Other neighbors said firefighters helped douse rooftops and porches with water.

American Red Cross workers were on scene to provide assistance.

The mixed-use project at the intersection of five streets was to include 105 residential units and 21,000 square feet of retail, and was supposed to open this year. But in less than a year, the project has now been hit twice by devastating fires.

On July 6, firefighters battled a blaze at the site that sent dozens fleeing as it spread to at least five nearby homes, an auto shop and cars along San Pablo Avenue. That fire, which caused no injuries, started about 2:45 a.m.

The San Francisco Business Times reported in March that investigators had determined that the first fire was probably caused by youths lighting fireworks on the unfinished fifth floor of the building, which then consisted of wood framing. However, the official cause of that fire is still under investigation. No arrests have been made, but several neighbors shared the developer’s suspicions that the fires were just too similar to be just bad luck.

“It’s the same exact pattern,” said Mike Dyels, 49, who owns a warehouse across the street. “Last time, the crane burned down and then the building. And that happened this time.”

Holliday Development installed 12 security cameras and hired two armed security guards, Rick Holliday said.

The Intersection project was first approved in August 2013. Permits for groundbreaking on the site were issued in June 2015, and construction began soon afterward.

Holliday Development promoted the building’s easy access to transportation, electric car charging stations and other environmentally friendly features.

After the first fire, developers Rick and Nancy Holliday wrote on their website, “While saddened by the fire that scarred the buildings at the corner of 39th and San Pablo, we want to take a moment and express our deep and heartfelt gratitude to all who came to fight the fire and deal with this event.”

They said they were “pained for those who were inconvenienced and suffered losses along with us. ... Focusing forward, Holliday Development has its sights set on putting this tragedy behind us, as best we can, and rapidly rebuilding this project to bring beautiful housing, office space, restaurants and more to the community as soon as possible.”

The last fire set construction back, but they were scheduled to finish in October, Rick Holliday said. He said Saturday’s fire will set development back by at least nine months.

“I don’t know why someone is burning houses down, but they need to stop,” Holliday said. “It’s horrible. We will be fine as developers, but this is just a mess. Words can’t even describe how horrible this is.”

He said as frustrated as he felt, he wasn’t going to let the fires deter the development.

“It won’t stop us from building housing,” Holliday said.

Michael Cabanatuan, Sarah Ravani, Vivian Ho and Evan Sernoffsky are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: mcabanatuan@sfchronicle.com, sravani@sfchronicle.com, vho@sfchronicle.com, esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @ctuan, @SarRavani, @VivianHo, @EvanSernoffsky