Fire

bright orange flames cascade down a hillside to the right of a residential street.

Oakland Hills neighbors alerted each other through group chats, used hoses to put out fires as area burned

Around 1:45 p.m. Friday, Benjamin Walker awoke to the sound of firefighters in the backyard of his Sanford Street home.  He jumped out of bed, looked outside and saw the oak tree on the fence line of his yard burning. “Holy shit!” he said aloud. Still in a post-nap daze, he scrambled to figure out what to do next. “I’m still waking up. I get my stuff together and get out there,” he told Oakland North Saturday. “The firefighters tell…

By on October 20, 2024
Billowing smoke and patches of flame are visible in the trees and hills behind a red Oakland fire truck that is parked on a residential street with houses.

UPDATE: Evacuation lifted for some after wildfire burns two homes, threatens others in Oakland Hills

Some of the more than 500 residents who were evacuated from the Oakland Hills because of a fast moving wildfire Friday were allowed back in their homes Saturday morning. The Oakland Fire Department remained on the scene Saturday as wind and warm temperatures threatened to reignite a blaze that started around 1:30 p.m. Friday, destroying two homes and burning 15 acres. About 200 firefighters were on the scene Friday, with assistance from an Alameda County strike team and air cover…

By and on October 18, 2024
A man and woman are piling brush in a cart. In this black and white photo, a pile of brush in a cart is on the left, with a man's hands in it, his face turned to the right .He is masked, with a black T-shirt, glasses and cap. To his right is a woman, her face downward as she works in a black jacket and baseball cap.

‘Without volunteers, this park would burn down’: Groups work to reduce fire risk in Oakland.

Dale Risden always worries when he sees the densely packed trees growing on the hills in Oakland’s Joaquin Miller Park, which spans 500 acres within the Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone designated by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Risden is the chair of Friends of Joaquin Miller Park, a community group of volunteers. Members work each weekend to clear fire hazards by hand, but Risden says it’s not enough. Volunteer organizations like Friends of Joaquin Miller…

By on October 26, 2023