Features

Garage blaze 

Firefighters battled early morning flames that demolished a garage at 939 Allston Way last Friday, a fire triggered by smoldering smoking materials im-properly disposed of, said Deputy Fire Chief Gil Dong. 

Firefighters caught the 911 call at 1:36 a.m., arriving to find the building fully ablaze. 

Damage to the structure was estimated 

at $40,000, with another $10,000 in losses to its contents. 

Autoclave immolation 

Berkeley firefighters rushed to UC Berkeley’s Northwest Animal Facility in the 1900 block of Oxford Street at 3:30 a.m. on the 23rd, arriving to find a piece of lab equipment ablaze. 

The fire, which destroyed an autoclave used to sterilize equipment, was triggered by equipment failure, said Deputy Chief Dong. 

Besides any damage that may have been caused by smoke or water, the loss was confined to the autoclave, he said.