Oakland Fire investigators plan to return to the East Bay Booksellers building this week to meet with the building owners and try to determine what caused the three-alarm fire that destroyed the building and damaged nearby structures.
Oakland Fire crews got the call at 5:24 a.m. Wednesday and say they were able to contain the fire in about 45 minutes. Fire officials said it is unclear, however, what time the fire started and it could have been burning several hours before the first 9-1-1 call came in.
The fallout from the fire, however, is just beginning for the businesses and residents along the 5400 block of College Avenue in Oakland’s Rockridge neighborhood.
“We were told mid-afternoon that anything the firemen did was our responsibility to do,” said Barbara Stelzriede, the fourth-generation owner of George and Walt’s bar next to the bookstore.
Stelzriede says her businesses had minor water damage and the heat melted her building’s wiring on the side facing the …