Tenants and the landlord of the downtown Oakland building that went up in flames Monday all say they tried to address safety issues at the property for years to no avail.
The fire at 1770 Broadway displaced 53 residents and sent three to the hospital with smoke inhalation injuries. The city opened an emergency shelter in response, but it closes Saturday.
One of the renters, Saron Hanson, recalled waking up Monday morning smelling smoke. No alarms were going off, he said, and even when they did in the past, he didn’t always rouse himself because of frequent false alerts.
But the smoke prompted him to “jump up” and run outside without grabbing anything.
Hanson said he lost “everything,” from his wallet and personal records to his DJ equipment, clothing, and $2 bill collection. He also believes someone entered his apartment during or after the fire and looted it, because his TV and other high-priced items were gone when he was let back in.
“It’s very traumatic,” said Hanson, who’s the cousin of rapper Mistah F.A.B., whose Dope Era store was also located at 1770 Broadway. At first Hanson felt too prideful to stay at the city’s shelter, but when he came back from his night shift working as a security guard Tuesday morning, he realized he had nowhere else to go.
Today, tenants like Hanson will meet with city staff to get connected with housing and legal assistance, said Oakland spokesperson Jean Walsh. The displaced renters qualify for priority placement in affordable housing.
The cause of the blaze is still under investigation, but the owner, property manager, and residents all believe it had something to do with a scooter “chop shop” they say has been run out of the building for over two years.
In 2024, another fire was started by someone running the chop shop, where they “stole electric scooters and fudged the wiring,” according to landlord Ted Dang. He told The Oaklandside that he tried unsuccessfully to evict the person who lived in that unit after the fire, and court records filed by that tenant corroborate this. He said he eventually secured a court order a month ago, but the sheriff hasn’t shown up.
Dang’s on-site property manager, Jason Stewart, said the chop shop leader — someone associated with the tenant — took it upon themselves to move out of that fourth-floor unit and relocate their operations to someone else’s apartment on the second floor.
That new unit — where many believe Monday’s fire started — then “got taken over by transients,” according to Stewart. He said the tenant there began sleeping in the hallway, having been pushed out.
“I would get police out here often to deal with that unit,” Stewart said. “Every time they came out, I’d let them know this tenant doesn’t want these people here. Police would refuse to do anything. We got zero backup.”
Stewart said the police would tell him the issues were civil matters, not criminal.
We asked the Oakland Police Department questions about this case, and about OPD’s general purview in cases like this. The department did not respond for our questions, saying our inquiry would require filing a public records request.
Some tenants told us they didn’t feel assured by the owner and manager’s approach to the safety issues at the property, which reportedly included multiple tenants having untreated mental health crises, deferred maintenance in the building, and a lack of communication during emergencies.
Dang, a prominent Oakland landlord and co-founder of affordable housing developer EBALDC, said he began accepting more formerly homeless tenants when the building had vacancies early in the pandemic. Some of the tenants had serious mental health challenges.
Dang said he’s owed thousands of dollars by some tenants who haven’t been paying rent, but has allowed many to stay despite the debt.
As for the safety issues, he said tenants have “felt like prisoners in this building” and “we’ve tried our best” to abate the problems, but many of the issues were out of his control.
What’s next for renters?
Sixty firefighters responded to the blaze Monday morning. Credit: Oakland Fire Department
Dang received scrutiny this week for issuing tenants notices shortly after the fire, declaring that their leases were “hereby terminated” and telling them to collect their remaining belongings in order to receive their security deposits back.
That’s not legal, according to Oakland’s city attorney, who sent Dang’s company, Commonwealth Management, a letter Tuesday demanding the notices be withdrawn.
There are formal requirements a property owner must meet if they want residents to permanently “vacate” a building, the letter said.
On Friday, the city said tenants may be eligible for relocation payments from the property owner under city law, but that’s still being determined.
Speaking with The Oaklandside, Dang doubled down on his decision to tell tenants their leases were up. “According to the leases, when the building is destroyed, the leases are terminated,” he said. But tenant attorneys told us a fire does not justify immediate evictions.
Dang also criticized the use of Oakland’s relocation ordinance, arguing the city sometimes overreaches when it determines landlords are liable for paying out tenants.
Hanson, the renter, praised the initial response to the fire by the city and the Red Cross.
“They extended more arms than you could possibly think,” said Hanson. But the Oakland native is concerned about where he’ll land next. He launched a crowdfunding campaign to recoup some of his losses.
As a security professional, Hanson was frustrated about the lack of protection at the building, where he said people would regularly follow tenants inside. One person even defecated in the hallway.
“Me personally, I felt unsafe,” he said.
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