Walnut Creek -- Fire officials suspect arson in the four-alarm blaze that sent smoke and flames billowing from an office complex near Highway 24 last night.
Workers in the seven-building complex were led out quickly as the fire engulfed a three-story building on Camino Diablo and spread to two other buildings, said Battalion Chief Clark Walker of the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District. No injuries were reported.
Walker said arson investigators are suspicious because the fire spread so rapidly. The building at 2950 Camino Diablo was most damaged, but the blaze also damaged buildings at 2960 and 2940 Camino Diablo.
The fire was reported at 5:30 p.m. and was controlled in about two hours, with 60 firefighters at the scene. Some firefighters planned to stay all night putting out hot spots.
"It was a very difficult fire to put out because the buildings are so close," Walker said.
The blaze started on the upper floors of the complex, which hold offices for lawyers, dentists, travel agents, therapists and other businesses.
The damage to the buildings is estimated to be more than half a million dollars.
Although the fire sent a haze of smoke over the nearby Interstate 680-Highway 4 interchange during commute hours, traffic was not affected, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Arson or Fire in 1998
Transgender Murders - this will surprise many
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By RICK HURD | rhurd@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group
November 7, 2013 at 2:48 am
rhurd@bayareanewsgroup.com
WALNUT CREEK — A transgender person who identified as a woman and was found dead along southbound Interstate 680 near the Walnut Creek BART station on Wednesday morning was identified by the Contra Costa Coroner’s Office on Thursday.
A coroner’s deputy confirmed that Natalie Nereza, 25, of Concord, likely jumped to her death from the BART tracks between the Lafayette and Pleasant Hill stations. She was found just north of the Olympic Boulevard exit near the Highway 24 junction.
Police were summoned about 12:15 a.m. on Wednesday after passing motorists saw the body.
Contact Rick Hurd at 925-945-4789 and follow him at Twitter.com/3rdERH.
