Firefighter injured as fire spreads from homeless camp to roofing supply building in Pittsburg

A firefighter was injured Sunday afternoon while fighting a three-alarm fire that spread from a homeless encampment to a roofing supply building in Pittsburg, sending black smoke billowing over the area, officials said.

The firefighter was treated for smoke inhalation and taken to the hospital, according to a tweet from the Contra Costa County fire department.

The fire at Elite Roofing Supply Company — mistakenly reported by the department earlier as occurring at the Piedmont Lumber Company building — was burning actively at 2:30 p.m. on Piedmont Way.

“The fire originated in a homeless encampment on the north side of the property,” the department said in a tweet.

The fire department tweeted that it had “knocked down” the flames by 4:05 p.m. It said in the tweet posted just after 4 p.m. that Piedmont Way remained closed, but that firefighters had brought a related grass fire under control. The department said in a 5 p.m. tweet that crews were mopping up, and Piedmont Way was still closed.

How much damage occurred to the building was unclear as of Sunday evening.

The department had tweeted earlier that the public should avoid the area.

Con Fire on scene of a three alarm fire at the Piedmont Lumber Company on Piedmont Way, Pittsburg. Piedmont Way is closed, please avoid the area. pic.twitter.com/1JCh3uYPQC

— Con Fire PIO (@ContraCostaFire) June 23, 2019