The Alley Oakland and the apartment fire next door

If you live in Oakland, or were just visiting from San Francisco on Wednesday night, perhaps you saw the flames coming up from a building on Grand Avenue, just up the street from the Grand Lake Theater.

What happened was an apartment unit at 3323 Grand Avenue and in the same building as the famed bar and grill called The Alley, caught fire. While the flames rendered the renter of the unit without an apartment, the good news is The Alley is still open, operating, and undamaged. It's a blessing because the fire could have spread to The Alley itself; it did not.

How the fire started is not certain, but sources told this blogger, who visited the establishment last night three hours after the fire, the unit was owned by a patron who allegedly has a drinking problem and was drunk before the fire started.

Once the fire was discovered patrons of The Alley worked with others who lived in the building to quickly put out the fire. All that remains is for fans of The Alley to come down and buy a drink or two and celebrate that it's still with us.

The Alley is at 3325 Grand Avenue in Oakland, California. It's known for Rod Dibble at the piano.