Oakland apartment building near Lake Merritt damaged in early morning fire

A Dumpster fire that spread to an apartment building in Oakland's Lake Merritt neighborhood early Wednesday morning damaged four of the building's units, according to fire officials.

The two-alarm fire at the three-story building on the corner of 9th and Madison streets started at around 5:30 a.m. Wednesday, the Oakland Fire Department said in a post on X .

The building is located two blocks away from the Lake Merritt BART station, about the same distance away from the Oakland Museum of California.

Officials said the fire started in a Dumpster in the rear of the property before spreading to the building. A quick response from the Oakland Fire Department limited the damage to just four of the 26 units in the building, but those four units sustained smoke and fire damage, officials said.

The fire has temporarily displaced 38 residents from the apartment building. The cause of fire under investigation.