Oaklanders get ready to face PG&E power cuts

Bottled water is in short supply as shoppers stock up at the Safeway on Fruitvale Avenue, preparing for a planned PG&E power outage. Photo by Caroline Hart.

On Wednesday afternoon, Oakland residents prepared for the power to go out, anticipating cuts that were initially expected to begin in Alameda County at noon. Parts of the Oakland hills and East Oakland are the most likely to be affected by the outages, which Pacific Gas and Electric estimates will affect 32,680 county residents. PG&E…

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San Pablo Avenue fire victims struggle to get help

A pile of items donated to victims of the San Pablo fire sits in a warehouse in West Oakland. Photo by Abner Hauge.

The residential building at 2551 San Pablo Avenue caught fire in the early-morning hours of March 27, killing four people and displacing more than 100. That day Strauss started a crowdfunding page to collect donations for displaced residents. It wasn’t the first time he’d done this—as a founding member of the Oakland Warehouse Coalition, Jonah Strauss had collected donations for survivors of the Ghost Ship fire and their next of kin.

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East Bay property owners rent goats for fire prevention

The gates to the Goats R Us ranch in Orinda, CA.

California is very, very dry these days. And with fire season around the corner, some property owners in the East Bay are turning to an unusual fire prevention technique: goats. Thousands of rented goats roam the hills about Berkeley and Oakland, working through the days and nights to prevent the spread of wildfires. Rachel Hiles has their story; click…

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After Oakland hills fire, residents build off-the-wall homes

Since the 1991 Oakland Hills fire, the homes in the neighborhood have become larger and range in architectural styles.

On October 20, 1991, the hills above North Oakland and South Berkeley were prey to a three-day urban fire that destroyed over 3,500 homes and instigated a building revolution that permanently transformed the neighborhood for decades to come. Before the fire, the hillside was littered with small, older homes, some dating as far back as the 1920s and 1930s. But after the fire, the Oakland hills neighborhoods drastically transformed into a community of clashing architectural styles, innovative designs, and large, looming structures.

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Red flag warning lifted, but hills still in danger

By ISABEL ESTERMAN OCT. 14 — The red flag fire warning for the Oakland hills was lifted this morning, but officials urge residents to remain vigilant. The area is no longer being whipped by the 35 mph gusts that raised concerns over the weekend, but conditions in the drought-stricken hills are reminiscent of the weeks before…

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