A fire at a homeless camp near Interstate Highway 880 in Oakland early this morning displaced about 37 people but no one was injured, a battalion chief said.
The blaze in the 2200 block of East 12th Street was reported at 2:41 a.m. and was contained shortly after 4 a.m., fire officials said.
About 15 or 16 tents were destroyed, Battalion Chief Demond Simmons said. The cause of the fire is still under investigation, according to Simmons.
Although no one was injured by the blaze, firefighters who responded to it found a dead body in a part of the homeless camp that didn't burn, Simmons said.
That person apparently had been dead for several days and the Oakland Police Department is now investigating that matter, he said.
"This tragedy calls us to do more to protect everyone in our community, and speaks to the importance of funding solutions to our homelessness crisis," said Oakland Councilmember At-Large Rebecca Kaplan.
Large #encampmentfire 2200blk E12th St. Crews using master streams, searching for victims. E4,13,16,T2,BC4 pic.twitter.com/wALvudXd0g — Oakland Firefighters (@OaklandFireLive) September 11, 2018
