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[VIDEO] Oakland Suffers Fifth Major Apartment Complex Fire in Five Years

via Youtubevia Youtube

Just last November, a massive Five-Alarm fire rocked a multi-story residential building that was almost 80% complete at the time, completely destroying the project. This month, yet another multi-story residential tower that was almost complete caught fire, making it the 5th in 5 year to suffer the same fate. At least 3 of the previous 3 fires have been ruled as arson but, up to this point, no arrests for any of the previous arsons have been made.

Amid a housing crisis in California’s bay area, signs point to an individual or group actively trying to sabotage new housing developments in the area, according to the Developer of this most recent project.  The total cost of construction of the 31,500 square foot, 6 story multi-use building is estimated at $80 million. The building fire started at 4:30am and no injuries were reported.

An on-site tower crane was also caught up in making the situation for nearby residents a dangerous one.  Nearly 900 nearby residents from around the site were evacuated in case the crane ended up collapsing. Even if they weren’t evacuated, chances are they would have left anyway, as temperatures around the fire registered at over 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

Jermey Davis, a fire investigator, told NBC Bay Area that arson is a hard thing to prove, but fires started accidentally behave fundamentally different than one started on purpose.  He says a naturally started fire makes a V-shape, starting with the point at the bottom and then spreading out as it gets higher. A fire started by gas or other flammable liquid is very wide at the base.

In the video below (first video), you can see the crane actually spinning due to the fire. The following day, the crane was taken down, by being pulled over by a cable attached to an excavator (second video on bottom).

Buildings are demolished all the time in order to make way for new construction.  The buildings that are demolished have usually lived out their useful life and are no longer functional.  Recently a demolition video resurfaced, which shows a 27 story building in China being imploded.  The strange thing is that, since it was finished in 1999, the building had never even been used.

There are a lot of people that would be pretty unhappy with whoever tears down a 98 foot tall, 105 year old tree to make room for a building expansion.  In order for most projects to work financially, however, many trees are uprooted and replaced with smaller trees.  That’s not what happened with what is believed to be the state of Idaho’s largest sequoia tree, however.

[VIDEO] Roofer Amazingly Escapes Burning 6 Story Building By Hanging On to Crane Hook

As recently highlighted by several multi-story building fires, contractors should always be prepared in the event a fire starts on a job site.  There have been dozens multi-story building fires in the past few years and many were started when the building was topped out.  In most cases, the project was completely destroyed, leaving developers and owners to deal with years of delays from insurance claims.  A massive five-alarm fire at an Oakland construction site is one of the more recent examples.

Two construction workers in Sarasota, Florida were recently trapped 15 stories in the air after one of the lines on their suspended scaffolding snapped.   One of the two men was able to be pulled to safety by some co-workers on site, but the second was stuck on the scaffold for an hour before the fire department could rescue him.

Since it opened its doors in 2010, the Burj Khalifa has been the world’s tallest building, one of the most coveted titles in all of the construction industry.  If all goes according to plan, the Burj’s reign at the top will come to an end when Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah Tower is completed in 2020. 

A nearby office worker caught video of a dramatic demolition that showed the remains of an 11 story building collapse on top of the excavator performing the demolition. 

While placing concrete on the second floor of a future seven-story mixed use building in Oakland, California, the concrete forms suddenly gave way, sending around 20 workers 10 to 15 feet below with the wet concrete. News reports explain the job site went into a panic, understandably so, and co-workers rushed to the scene to help.