100-year-old Oakland home ravaged by fire

Smoke from a fire burning near downtown Oakland was seen Wednesday morning near Interstate 880. Smoke from a fire burning near downtown Oakland was seen Wednesday morning near Interstate 880. Photo: Oakland Firefighters (@oaklandfirelive) / / Photo: Oakland Firefighters (@oaklandfirelive) / / Image 1 of / 7 Caption Close 100-year-old Oakland home ravaged by fire 1 / 7 Back to Gallery

Rosalind Coleman had been gone for only 10 minutes when a fire sparked inside her flat in a 100-year-old home in West Oakland on Wednesday, destroying everything she and her young daughter owned.

The 47-year-old mother had been across the street volunteering at West Oakland Middle School, where her 13-year-old daughter, Dejamelyah, was in class.

“Everything is gone,” a stunned Coleman said while standing in front of the fire-ravaged building Wednesday afternoon. “I have a key to a house, but I don’t have a house.”

The fire started around 10:45 a.m. inside the converted Victorian at 14th and Myrtle streets before racing through the upstairs unit, sending a plume of black smoke into the air that was visible for miles around the city.

The mother and daughter stood in shock Wednesday as they watched firefighters douse the intense flames inside their now-blackened unit. Their clothes, television, personal items — even Coleman’s purse — burned up.

Coleman said she had recently won a battle to stay in the government-subsidized apartment that’s owned by the Greater Cooper AME Zion Church across the street. But on Wednesday, the overwhelmed mother and daughter waited for the Red Cross to help find them a temporary place to stay.

“I’m numb right now. I’m empty,” she said.

Despite the extensive damage upstairs, firefighters think the ground-floor unit may be salvageable. Firefighters continued mopping up hot spots into the afternoon while investigators worked to determine the fire’s cause and origin.

When firefighters first pulled up to the scene, a passerby reported that someone may have been in the home, which turned out to be unfounded after crews searched the residence.

No one was injured or killed in the fire.

Libby Rainey and Evan Sernoffsky are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: lrainey@sfchronicle.com, esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @rainey_l, @EvanSernoffsky