Fire Crews Battle Blaze in Oakland-Berkeley Hills
A vegetation fire broke out in the Oakland-Berkeley Hills late Tuesday morning, according to Oakland fire officials.
The blaze started around 11:45 a.m. on the 1000 block of Panoramic Way, above UC Berkeley’s campus.
At least 60 firefighters from across the East Bay, including the Oakland and Berkeley Fire Departments, rushed to the scene, and were able to stall forward progress within a few hours, according to OFD spokesperson Michael Hunt.
The fire had burned about one and a half acres of vegetation by 1:50 p.m., and caused “limited damage” to the roof of one home.
Hunt said no injuries or fatalities have been reported, and no evacuations have been ordered. UC Berkeley told students that roads were closed at Stadium Rim Way and Centennial Drive and Prospect Street and Channing Way.
The blaze sparked not far from where almost exactly 35 years ago, the 1991 Tunnel Fire broke out along the border of the Oakland-Berkeley Hills. That blaze killed 25 people and charred more than 3,000 homes.
What started as a small grass fire on Oct. 19, 1991, and firefighters presumed was under control by that night, exploded the following day, roaring through the drought-dry wooded hills in strong Diablo winds.
The firestorm, which burned 1,500 acres, spurred major changes to the East Bay’s fire preparedness efforts: fire departments added new stations in the hills, cities revised evacuation routes and residents implemented home hardening tactics to increase their own properties’ fire resilience. But wildfires are still a major threat to the area, where the roads are narrow and homes are nestled in often dry and overgrown brush and trees.
This is a developing story and will be updated.