Guillen, Abel

From: Cappio, Claudia

Sent: Tuesday, April 04, 2017 12:03 PM
To: Campbell Washington, Annie; Guillen, Abel; Brooks, Desley; Gallo, Noel; Reid, Larry;
McElhaney, Lynette; Kalb, Dan; Kaplan, Rebecca
Cc: Nosakhare, Shereda; Karchmer, Joanne; Daniel, Christine; Landreth, Sabrina; Cotton,
Chantal; Mlay, Serenity S.; Hamilton, Harry; Boyd, Karen; Derryck, Erica
Subject: San Pablo Fire Information and Follow Up

Dear City Councilmembers,

On Monday, March 27, 2017, at approximately 5:40 a.m., Oakland Fire Dispatch received a call reporting a fire
at 2551 San Pablo Avenue. Due to the fires intensity and the large number of occupants residing in the
building, the fire was escalated to a fourth alarm. Oakland Fire rescued at least 15 persons during the incident
and assisted dozens more in evacuation.

There were four injured victims (2 adults and 2 children) transported to Alta Bates Summit Medical Center and
UCSF Benioff Childrens Hospital Oakland for treatment. It is our understanding that the injuries sustained
were not life threatening.

There were four fatalities. Of the four victims, two names have been released by the Alameda County Sherriffs
Office, Coroners Bureau: Edwarn Anderson, 64 and Cassandra Robertson, 50.

Throughout the day, Oakland Fire crews went through the building extinguishing hot spots and conducting a
thorough search of the building. The Oakland Police Department was on scene for traffic controls purposes.
Oakland Fire was assisted on this incident by the Alameda County Sherriffs Office which provided search dogs
to help locate victims.

On Wednesday, March 29, the Oakland Fire Department concluded its operations at 2551 San Pablo Avenue,
and the building was turned over to the property owners representatives to be secured. The fire has been
deemed to have been accidentally caused. The fire investigation report should be completed in the next few
weeks.

Emergency Shelter
The City of Oakland is coordinating with the American Red Cross and the Alameda County Health Care
Services Agency to provide additional resources to these impacted individuals. In addition to emergency shelter
at the West Oakland Youth Center, services offered onsite at the shelter include grief counseling, meals,
housing location assistance and medical, social and behavioral support services.

The emergency shelter has operated 24/7 since Monday, March 27. As of Monday night, April 3, only 13
individuals spent the night at the shelter.

The attached Draft Framework on prioritizing assistance outlines the steps being taken to support all victims
who were displaced by the fire. Given there are insufficient housing options immediately available, this
prioritization framework guides the City to ensure the most vulnerable residents (seniors, mothers with children,
and people with serious mental or physical health conditions or disabilities) are given priority for an appropriate

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housing placement. These criteria are consistent with existing practices for allocating emergency shelter and
housing resources.

The City, Alameda County and other public, non-profit and private housing providers are working to identify a
full range of housing options, based on need, for all impacted residents including shelter, transitional housing,
permanent supportive housing and affordable housing options. Clients will be offered various options based on
their need, program eligibility and availability of beds/units.

The emergency shelter at the West Oakland Youth Center will close for overnight stays on Wednesday, April 5,
2017. The last night for overnight shelter will be Tuesday, April 4, 2017.

Other Steps Being Taken

Local Assistance Center
On Tuesday, April 4, 2017, the City of Oakland and the Red Cross will open a comprehensive one-stop
assistance office at 270 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza (adjacent to Clay Street and across the street from the Elihu
Harris State Office Building). Hours of operation are scheduled from 10 am to 7 pm on Tuesday through Friday,
April 7, 2017.

City staff members are reaching out to the former residents of 2551 San Pablo Avenue to schedule specific
appointment times at the Local Assistance Center. The first priority for appointments will be seniors, mothers
with children and people with serious mental or physical health conditions or disabilities. Appointments are
important in order to not jam up the center.

Finding and matching clients with available short- and mid-term housing is the most important initial step in
assistance. Workers will review eligibility criteria and other requirements. Other services will include the DMV,
State Employment Development Department,County Social Services, Food Bank, Red Cross and other
assistance.

Temporary Housing
A list of available shelter beds has been distributed. Shelter clients and other victims of the fire need to identify
temporary shelter as soon as possible before the West Oakland Shelter closes. Although shelter beds are not an
ideal or long-term solution, beds are being reserved by providers for fire victims.

Individuals with fragile health, mental or physical disabilities, and mothers with small children are being given
priority in being placed into medium- and longer-term housing. As more resources become available, we will
immediately post and email/text to affected families and individuals. The City and Red Cross remain committed
to identifying all housing resources available by the time the shelter closes.

Relocation Assistance
The City has rules that require a property owner to provide relocation assistance to tenants in the event of
displacement, where tenants must be relocated. This assistance is offered on a unit-by-unit basis not on an
individual basis. A more detailed explanation of this assistance and a worksheet for verifying tenancy was
distributed at the Shelter meetings. These same worksheets will also be available at the Local Assistance Center.
The City will do everything they can to expedite these payments to eligible tenants.

I will send additional related information in a separate email. Please let me know if you have any questions.
Regards, Claudia

Claudia Cappio
Assistant City Administrator
City of Oakland
2
1 Frank Ogawa Plaza Suite 301
Oakland, CA 94612
ccappio@oaklandnet.com
510 238 6654 -- direct
510 238 7798 -- Winnie Woo, Assistant

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