OAKLAND — A hub for anarchists, artists and musicians went up in flames early Saturday in West Oakland, killing two men and damaging businesses, including AK Press, authorities and residents said.

One of the victims was identified by neighbors as artist Daniel “Moe” Thomas, who lived in a unit at the former armory at 669 24th Street. A second man, believed to be 28, was also killed, fire officials said. He was not identified.

Fire crews went to the West Oakland building at about 3 a.m. after a neighbor on the street reported hearing a smoke alarm faintly sounding, Oakland fire Battalion Chief Geoff Hunter said.

Crews searched the building but did not see any evidence of smoke or fire, Hunter said. About 12 minutes later, firefighters saw smoke coming out of one apartment. They knocked down the unit”s door, and found a fire raging inside. It quickly spread through the attic shared by multiple buildings, Hunter said.

The three-alarm fire was under control by 4:10 a.m. The two victims were found dead inside.

“We were yelling fire and ringing everyone”s doorbell,” said 27-year-old Amanda Bailey, who lives across the hall and was there when firefighters tore the door down. “We”re in shock still.”

Built in the 1930s, the building was a U.S. National Guard armory, and originally was one structure. Now, it is divided into two buildings facing 23rd and 24th streets between Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and San Pablo Avenue.

Thomas was an artist who lived on the 24th Street side, where the fire started, in a space with multiple units also home to musicians and an underground music scene.

On the 23rd Street side, is well-known worker-run, anarchist publishing and distribution company AK Press, as well as 1984 Printing, and Omnidawn, a nonprofit publisher of poetry. By 10 a.m. Saturday, volunteers and employees were showing up, grabbing brooms to push water that damaged the publishing businesses. The extent of the water damage was unclear.

Resident Jose Palafox, 41, described the building as a longtime home to freethinkers, writers, musicians and anarchists, holding on to their space in a rapidly gentrifying area of West Oakland.

“Oakland has been changing a lot. I feel like this building is one of the last holdouts. This is a symbol of people who give a s—,” he said. “If this building is gone, it”s not just the building, it”s the ideas of the people who live in the building.”

Fire officials did not know the extent of the structural damage to the buildings, but people were coming and going from inside Saturday. It appears the fire was accidental, Hunter said, though it remains under investigation.

About 30 residents were displaced by the blaze and are receiving help from the American Red Cross, which set up an emergency shelter at 3901 Broadway.

David DeBolt covers breaking news. Contact him at 510-208-6453. Follow him at Twitter.com/daviddebolt.