Fire breaks out at multistory housing project under construction on Middlefield Road – Palo Alto Daily Post

An affordable apartment complex under construction in the North Fair Oaks community was destroyed today (June 3) in an eight-alarm fire that prompted hundreds of people to evacuate while firefighters protected a neighborhood from floating embers.

The fire broke out around 10:15 a.m. on the top floor of a five-story building under construction at 2700 Middlefield Road. It burned yellow insulation and sent chunks of ash flying across a neighborhood; start small fires on the roofs of buildings and on patches of dead grass.

Firefighters doused roofs closest to the fire, while local residents pulled out ladders and doused their own properties further away. Ash floated down five blocks and the pieces were bigger than footballs.

As flames tore through the building, people backed away or loaded their children into the car and left the scene.

Firefighters were challenged by wind and ladder truck access to the fire, Menlo Park Fire Chief Mark Lorenzen said this afternoon at the Fair Oaks Health Center.

The building also did not have any fire protection systems installed, such as sprinklers or fire shields, leaving wooden 2x4s and 2x6s to burn, Lorenzen said.

About a hundred construction workers had already left the building when firefighters arrived. Lorenzen said he hopes they can provide useful information to investigators about what started the fire.

It was an eight-alarm fire. That means there were 26 engines, seven ladder trucks and about 110 firefighters from various San Mateo County agencies, Lorenzen said.

Ten more engines and 30 to 40 firefighters came from Santa Clara County, Lorenzen said.

Lorenzen said it was the largest fire he has seen since he joined the Menlo Park Fire Protection District two and a half years ago. Some have compared it to a fire on Santana Row in San Nose in August 2002 that destroyed stores and apartments, Lorenzen said.

“It’s about the same scope and size,” Lorenzen said.

Around 1:15 p.m., the fire was smaller, Lorenzen said. Crews will go to the building and check for fires, and residents should be allowed to return home in the coming hours, he said.

“It was probably a total loss. Our primary focus at this time is to protect adjacent structures and the community to the south,” Lorenzen said.

Around 3 p.m., the fire was contained to the building.

By around 5 p.m., most of the evacuees were able to return home, according to the sheriff's office.

Smoke from the fire is expected to spread across the peninsula to San Jose, according to the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, which has issued a Spare the Air alert.

Small fires continued to break out in empty lots and burn patches of dead grass. A patch of ash began smoking on top of a three-story building at the corner of Calvin Avenue and Dumbarton Avenue, and people shouted for firefighters to bring a garden hose.

Police went door to door telling people along Dumbarton Avenue to evacuate to Middlefield Road.

With the train tracks nearby, Caltrain service was interrupted. The Fair Oaks Community Center, located at 2600 Middlefield Road, closed due to the fire. School at nearby Garfield Community School was canceled.

The building, which was going to be called Middlefield Junction, is in unincorporated San Mateo County, near Costco and the Redwood City limits, in the community known as North Fair Oaks.

Construction on the $155 million, 179-unit complex began last year. It was being built on a parcel owned by the San Mateo County government, behind the county's Fair Oaks Health Center.

The project would have consisted of one- to three-bedroom apartments and a daycare center. The apartments were intended for low-income and homeless tenants.

“When completed, the Middlefield Junction project will transform land that once housed a recycling facility and help realize a plan that has been in the works for years,” a June 21, 2023, county press release states.