Residents evacuated from Oakley senior housing apartments

OAKLEY — Residents were evacuated from a large affordable housing complex after major water leak on Sunday afternoon, fire officials confirmed.

The Contra Costa County Fire Department received a call around noon that a resident in Building 67 at The Oaks apartment complex on Carole Lane was stuck in an elevator. Upon arrival, rescuers discovered water leaking from the second floor to the first floor of the senior apartment building, seeping into an electrical panel, said Steve Aubert, CCCFD public information officer.

“We asked PG&E to shut off the power and residents to evacuate,” Aubert said.

Dozens of seniors were evacuated from the four-story building to a nearby community room and are now awaiting word on where they will be taken next, according to 70-year-old Jackie Rider, a resident on the scene.

“We’ve had constant water issues,” Rider said, indicating this was “the worst.” “My blood pressure is about off the chart.”

Rider said she and others saw feces in the water and she had to take her shoes off and clean them after she  made her way past the water and debris. Hazmat was on the scene and red “Danger” tape was wrapped around the building entrances, she said.

Aubert is unsure how long residents would have to be evacuated and said that would be up to Oakley’s building code staff.

Oakley City Vice Mayor Shannon Shaw said the city was aware of the situation and building management is working to help relocate displaced residents.

“The city is aware of the situation. Residents will be moved to other vacant units or another hotel, depending if other floors will have to be evacuated,” Shaw said.

Shaw said it’s still unclear how long residents would be displaced.

“We will know once they get an electrician out there,” she said.

Problems at The Oaks were first reported last summer when residents complained to City Hall about cockroach infestations, prompting an investigation by this newspaper. Soon after, state inspectors visited the property and confirmed the presence of roaches along with other compliance issues, according to the California State Treasurer’s Office.

Developed by the nonprofit Corporation for Better Housing, the apartment complex in central Oakley is part of the federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Program, which provides tax credits for the construction or rehabilitation of low-income housing. The complex, which includes both senior and family units, is owned by seven different owners or investor groups, comprising both nonprofit and for-profit entities.

Staff writer Judith Prieve contributed to this report.

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