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Residents injured in house fire

Marilyn Claessens
Wednesday May 24, 2000

An early morning fire gutted a house Tuesday in the 1600 block of Josephine Street, injuring two children, two women, two police officers and two firefighters. All were treated for smoke inhalation. 

Police officers arrived at the fire scene and found people on the porch roof, and they assisted them off the roof. 

On of the two women who lived in the house jumped 12 feet from the roof to escape the fire, was being evaluated Tuesday at Alta Bates Medical Center to determine the extent of injuries to her back. 

The two children, ages 14 and 4, were treated for smoke inhalation and they were expected to be released today from Children’s Hospital Oakland. The family dog died in the fire. 

One police officer also suffered muscle strain and one firefighter was treated for second-degree burns on his arm and another firefighter sustained a badly sprained ankle from a fall, said Assistant Fire Chief David Orth. 

A total of 31 people responded to the two-alarm fire that was reported ad 4:39 a.m. and extinguished about one hour later, at 5:30 a.m. Orth said six engines, both of Berkeley’s ladder trucks and 31 people including those from other jurisdictions helped put out the fire. 

Orth said the building did have asbestos shingles that will be investigated for toxicity. While its presence is not common to the area, “it doesn’t present any real hazard,” he said. 

The department estimates damage to the burned out home as $400,000. The flames reached the house to the north burning and blackening the walls causing an estimated $20,000 of damage. 

Fire investigators already were at work Tuesday morning seeking the cause of the house fire. 

They also continued to investigate the cause of Sunday’s five-alarm fire on Fourth Street. Damage estimates from that blaze have climbed to about $3 million.