IT'S HARD TO GO SIT AND CRY. BUT WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO? I MEAN, I KEEP CLOSING MY EYES AND EXPECTING YOU GUYS NOT TO BE HERE. AND WHY AM I AT THE LUMBER YARD ON MEMORIAL DAY TONIGHT? >> FIRE CREWS REMAIN AT A LUMBER YARD IN OAKLAND, CHECKING FOR HOT SPOTS. ONE DAY AFTER A MASSIVE FIRE BROKE OUT. GOOD EVENING. I'M AMA DAETZ, AND I'M DAN ASHLEY. >> THANKS FOR JOINING US. THE FIRE BROKE OUT JUST BEFORE 8:00 LAST NIGHT AT ECONOMY LUMBER IN OAKLAND'S FRUIT VALE NEIGHBORHOOD. >> ABC SEVEN NEWS REPORTER LENA HOWLAND TALKED TO THE OWNER OF THE COMPANY AND SHOWS US THE DAMAGE. >> FLAMES SHOOTING FROM THE ROOF OF ECONOMY LUMBER SUNDAY NIGHT, PUTTING OFF A SMOKE PLUME THAT COULD BE SEEN FOR MILES. >> IT SPREAD SO FAST. BY THE TIME THE FIRE DEPARTMENT CAME, THE BUILDING, THE FIRE WAS SHOOTING ON THE TOP OF THE ROOF, ALREADY FLANKED BY A GAS STATION ON ONE SIDE AND RAILROAD TRACKS ON THE OTHER. >> OAKLAND FIREFIGHTERS QUICKLY CALLED FOR THIS LUMBER YARD FIRE TO BE FOUR ALARMS, BRINGING MORE THAN 100 FIREFIGHTERS TO THE SCENE. >> THE FUEL LOAD HERE WAS TREMENDOUS. >> THE FIRE BURNED THROUGH THE NIGHT. COME MONDAY MORNING, EXCAVATORS WERE BROUGHT IN TO TEAR ONE OF THE LUMBER YARD BUILDINGS APART, NOT STABLE. >> IT'S TOO DANGEROUS. WE CAN'T SEND CREWS IN THERE. WE HAVE FLOOR COLLAPSE ON THE SECOND FLOOR, AND THERE'S ALSO HOT SPOTS RIGHT NOW. SO RIGHT NOW, THE EXCAVATOR IS NOW TEARING THE BUILDING DOWN SO WE CAN GET WATER TO SOME OF THE HOT SPOTS. JOHN BACON, PRESIDENT OF ECONOMY LUMBER, COULD ONLY WATCH AS HIS FAMILY'S BUSINESS BURNED. >> IT WAS JUST TOO DANGEROUS TO GO IN AND PUT THE FIRES OUT. >> BACON SEEN GOING THROUGH THE RUBBLE AT THE BUSINESS HIS FAMILY HAS OWNED FOR MORE THAN 40 YEARS, PULLING OUT WHAT HE COULD. I COULD BE DEPRESSED, BUT, I MEAN, I'M SAD. >> I MEAN, I JUST GOT MY 35 YEAR OLD BIKE OUT OF MY OFFICE. I HAPPEN TO SEE IT WHEN HE WAS WHEN THE BUILDING WAS COMING DOWN AND HE GRABBED IT FOR ME. >> BACON SAYS HIS BUSINESS WILL BE CLOSED FOR THE NEXT WEEK WHILE THEY REEVALUATE WHAT'S NEXT BEFORE STARTING THE REBUILDING PROCESS. >> WE'LL BUILD SOMETHING MORE TO WHAT WE ACTUALLY NEED, HE SAYS. >> OF THE FOUR LOCATIONS HIS FAMILY OWNS, NONE OF THEIR LUMBER YARDS HAS EVER CAUGHT FIRE. THIS IS THE ONLY LOCATION WITHOUT FIRE SPRINKLERS, SAM GABRIEL, A MANAGER OF THE GAS STATION NEXT DOOR, SAYS IT WAS ONLY A MONTH AND A HALF AGO WHEN HE HELPED PUT OUT AN ENCAMPMENT FIRE JUST OUTSIDE OF THE RAIL YARD. >> I GRABBED A COUPLE OF BUCKETS OF WATER I DROPPED ON IT, AND I DON'T KNOW THIS TIME I DID NOT SEE ANYBODY, BUT IT COULD BE BECAUSE THEY LIGHTING FIRES ALL THE TIME. >> FIREFIGHTERS SAY THE CAUSE OF THIS FIRE IS STILL
