A warehouse fire in Oakland on Wednesday morning could mean a major setback for the completion of an affordable housing complex.

The fire happened very close to the BART Coliseum Station just before 7 a.m. It has been a day of mop-up for the fire department.

Now, the fire could affect the construction of affordable housing.

Fire investigators are working to figure out where and how this fire started.

This mess needs to get cleaned up, so construction of a badly needed affordable housing complex can continue on schedule.

The flames, captured by KRON4 viewers, burned a warehouse on 72nd and Hawley Street.

Smoke filled the sky right by the Oakland Coliseum BART station.

“The first thing that runs through your mind was Oakland warehouse, and we are incredibly fortunate there’s no loss of life, no injury,” COO of Resources for Community Development Eric Knecht said.

Knecht tells KRON4 the non-profit owns the paint storage warehouse.

It is in the process of turning the site into 59 affordable housing units.

Construction is scheduled to start next summer and be done in late 2021.

The units would be for families who make about $70,000 a year.T

The RCD will not let the fire disrupt plans to keep construction on track.

The clean-up started immediately after the fire.

“It does create some complications,” Knecht said. “As far as hazardous materials, it will slow down the process, but hopefully not too much.”

Fire investigators are looking into claims from witnesses who said they saw homeless people out in front of the building with a campfire, just before the warehouse caught on fire.

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