BRKG 10-acre wildfire burning near UC Berkeley triggers voluntary campus evacuations

[Melodi]

10-acre wildfire burning near UC Berkeley triggers voluntary campus evacuations
10-acre wildfire burning near UC Berkeley

Firefighters battle a 10-acre wildfire burning in the hills east of UC Berkeley. (City of Berkeley)
Alene TchekmedyianAlene TchekmedyianContact Reporter

A 10-acre wildfire burning in the hills east of UC Berkeley on Wednesday afternoon triggered road closures and voluntary evacuations for some campus buildings, officials said.

Shortly after 3 p.m., university police recommended evacuations of the Lawrence Hall of Science, the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute and the Space Sciences Laboratory.

The blaze drew a response of between 150 to 200 firefighters, as well as helicopters dropping loads of water from a nearby reservoir.

Firefighters had partially contained the blaze, the cause of which is being investigated, according to Berkeley officials.

“The challenges we’re having right now are just steep terrain and heavy timber, just large trees that are holding a lot of heat,” said Oakland Fire Deputy Chief Melinda Drayton.

Utility officials plan to shut off power on campus, though it’s unclear when the outage will occur, police said.

Grizzly Peak Boulevard was closed between Centennial Drive and South Park Drive, according to the University of California police.

Campers at Tilden Regional Park were taken home on regular bus routes, city officials said.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-berkeley-fire-20170802-story.html

 

[night driver]

You mean melting some of them snowflakes WON'T put the fire out??

 

[Bardou]

If that fire gets going, Katie bar the door! There was a fire up there in the Oakland Hills about 25 years ago, burned up multi million dollar homes. DH worked on the fire, it was a disaster. There's eucalyptus trees all throughout that area, it burns hot and fast. The Caldecott Tunnel is near there as well as a park. I hope they get it out and fast!

 

[Publius]

Rare these days an event at Berkeley triggers common sense.

 

[IceWave]

Someone will claim that the fire is committing a microagression against those its displacing.

 

[Melodi]

If that fire gets going, Katie bar the door! There was a fire up there in the Oakland Hills about 25 years ago, burned up multi million dollar homes. DH worked on the fire, it was a disaster. There's eucalyptus trees all throughout that area, it burns hot and fast. The Caldecott Tunnel is near there as well as a park. I hope they get it out and fast!

I was there in 1992; we were at the fabric store (you know you are in the Current Middle Ages club - SCA when you get up Sunday morning and tell your housemate you must all go fabric shopping) about the time the lights started to go on and off in the shop; we looked out and saw cars pouring down the hillside and we jumped in the car still having no idea what was going on and joined the traffic.

I turned around and saw an entire mountain go up like a candle flame; it was probably THE MOST TERRIFYING thing that Disastercat has ever seen; except maybe a full on tornado (they are about equal) I screamed "Oh my God the Hills are on Fire! Quick Head to the Bridge!" We actually headed back to the house which was the same direction as the bridge to find the fire a mile away - we never actually had to evacuate but we spent 48 hours with the car packed and ready to go (along with using the hose on the roof).

I was thinking about this when I read that article and posted it; I hope they get it under control, the last giant firestorm was during October and the Santa Anna Winds whipped it up (it actually started as a small fire the day before and was thought to have been put out); I don't know what the weather there is this evening but if it is both hot and windy; well we just have to wait and see.

 

[Melodi]

5-Alarm East Bay Hills Fire Partially Contained
August 2, 2017 1:58 PM
Filed Under: Fire, Oakland, Oakland Hills, UC Berkeley

OAKLAND (CBS SF) — A vegetation fire that was raised to five alarms in the East Bay hills Wednesday afternoon was still burning, but has been partially contained by fire crews, according to officials.

The fire, which was reported at about 1:05 p.m., was burning near Grizzly Peak Boulevard and Fish Ranch Road in Oakland near the Berkeley border and not far from the Lawrence Hall of Science.

Oakland Fire Battalion Chief Melinda Drayton said the fire was partially contained as of shortly after 5 p.m. and a partial perimeter has been set up.

A total of five alarms were called during the course of the fire.

Drayton said crews were have having some issues fighting the fire on the north end due to very steep terrain and thick brush.

A total of nine fire departments responded to the fire, Drayton said.

The fire is a joint command with Cal Fire, Oakland Fire and Orinda-Moraga Fire District

So far, authorities said no structures are in danger and no one has been injured.

At 3:10 p.m., UC Berkeley police issued an alert regarding some recommended evacuations in the area due to wildfire.

UC police advised people to leave the Hall of Science, which is located at 1 Centennial Drive, as well as the Space Sciences Laboratory at 7 Gauss Way and the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute at 17 Gauss Way, which are both near Centennial Drive.

In addition, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory at 1 Cyclotron Road, which is also off Centennial Road, advised its employees to leave work early because of the fire, lab spokesman Jon Weiner said.

The Oakland firefighters Twitter account posted shortly before 1:30 p.m. that units from Oakland, Berkeley, the East Bay Regional Parks district and Cal Fire were on the scene of the wildfire in the East Bay hills along Grizzly Peak Boulevard near the Mile 15 marker.

The fire went to a second alarm a short time later.

As of about 4:15 p.m., Berkeley police reported the fire had grown to about 10 acres and was moving east approximately a mile from the Berkeley border.

Video shot by Chopper 5 showed the large fire producing a sizable cloud of smoke over the area.

UC police said Grizzly Peak Boulevard is closed between Centennial Drive and South Park Drive and other roads in the area may be closed as needed.

They advised the public to avoid the area to allow crews to respond to the fire.

UC police also said the university’s Botanical Garden at 200 Centennial Drive has closed for the day.

So far, no structures have been threatened. Cal Fire air tanker drops are being utilized to help combat the blaze.

A shelter in place has been ordered by Orinda police due to the smoke from the fire.

UC police sent out an advisory at about 2:40 p.m. stating that the outage was caused by PG&E having to shut down transformers. The UC police alert warned against using elevators until the power was restored.

Shortly before 3 p.m., the UC Berkeley Twitter account posted that the fire would be causing a power outage across campus and advised people to shut down their electrical devices.

However, UC police sent out an advisory about an hour later saying the outage had been delayed. The alert noted that it was unknown when the outage would actually take place, but warned students and faculty to be prepared.

Shortly before 5 p.m., UC Berkeley police issued a message stating that PG&E had inspected the fire-impacted power lines and issued the all clear. No campus power outage will be required.

Berkeley police also sent out an advisory warning Berkeley hills residents to remain prepared in case the fire near Grizzly Peak continues to grow, though no evacuations have been ordered for residents.

Police also said that anyone who lives in the hills preparing to go home should expect delays due to road closures.

Crews are expected to be on scene throughout the night and into Thursday.

TM and © Copyright 2017 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Bay City News Service contributed to this report.
http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2017/08/02/crews-respond-to-2-alarm-fire-in-berkeley-hills/

 

[Bardou]

I was there in 1992; we were at the fabric store (you know you are in the Current Middle Ages club - SCA when you get up Sunday morning and tell your housemate you must all go fabric shopping) about the time the lights started to go on and off in the shop; we looked out and saw cars pouring down the hillside and we jumped in the car still having no idea what was going on and joined the traffic.

I turned around and saw an entire mountain go up like a candle flame; it was probably THE MOST TERRIFYING thing that Disastercat has ever seen; except maybe a full on tornado (they are about equal) I screamed "Oh my God the Hills are on Fire! Quick Head to the Bridge!" We actually headed back to the house which was the same direction as the bridge to find the fire a mile away - we never actually had to evacuate but we spent 48 hours with the car packed and ready to go (along with using the hose on the roof).

I was thinking about this when I read that article and posted it; I hope they get it under control, the last giant firestorm was during October and the Santa Anna Winds whipped it up (it actually started as a small fire the day before and was thought to have been put out); I don't know what the weather there is this evening but if it is both hot and windy; well we just have to wait and see.

Yep, that was the fire 1992 - WOW! Time sure has flown by, it just seemed like it wasn't too long ago. IIRC, it was started from a brush pile that got out of hand, the winds whipped through there and carried it up through those hills burning everything in its path. DH knew his way through those hills since he worked for the power company. I didn't see him for a few days, lots of power poles were burned up and the natural gas had to be shut off.

 

[Melodi]

Yep, that was the fire 1992 - WOW! Time sure has flown by, it just seemed like it wasn't too long ago. IIRC, it was started from a brush pile that got out of hand, the winds whipped through there and carried it up through those hills burning everything in its path. DH knew his way through those hills since he worked for the power company. I didn't see him for a few days, lots of power poles were burned up and the natural gas had to be shut off.

I was working over timet the day before (Saturday) and I remember sitting at the bus stop thinking "wow this weather is very hot, very strange and feels like either an earthquake or fire." And yes, it still feels like yesterday to me; even though our "newly married" friends who got out with the clothing on their backs now have a daughter who is about the same age her Mother was when they ended up starting out married life with gift vouchers from the red cross (and a few of my belly dance scarves to tide the wife over until they could afford to get more).

The CBS live report is suggesting the fire is partly under control but they are still asking people to be ready to leave if things get out of hand again; I have to go to bed (after 2am here) hopefully good news in the mornng.

 

[cjoi]

The general area of the Berkeley-Oakland Hills is where a few different jurisdictions come together. One of the lessons that came out of the Firestorm was supposed to be better practices and better coordination of different first responders. So far, the emergency responses to fires demonstrate the awful lessons have led to more effective protocols.

As for the problem of eucalyptus trees, since 1992, extensive effort has been put forth to remove the non-native species such as eucalyptus and others which has resulted in a shift to more defensible growth/material.

 

[Bardou]

The general area of the Berkeley-Oakland Hills is where a few different jurisdictions come together. One of the lessons that came out of the Firestorm was supposed to be better practices and better coordination of different first responders. So far, the emergency responses to fires demonstrate the awful lessons have led to more effective protocols.

As for the problem of eucalyptus trees, since 1992, extensive effort has been put forth to remove the non-native species such as eucalyptus and others which has resulted in a shift to more defensible growth/material.

That's good to know since the eucalyptus trees are not native to California. They were brought here in the 1800's as a lumber investment. Investors discovered that the trees were not "lumber" material, they decided that they were best served as wind breaks. They were further introduced to Angel Island, and the State of CA Parks have spent thousands of dollars eradicating the eucalyptus trees from Angel Island located in the SF Bay. I could go on and on about the trees, but that's about the gist of how flammable and invasive these trees are.

 

[Be Well]

Yep, that was the fire 1992 - WOW! Time sure has flown by, it just seemed like it wasn't too long ago. IIRC, it was started from a brush pile that got out of hand, the winds whipped through there and carried it up through those hills burning everything in its path. DH knew his way through those hills since he worked for the power company. I didn't see him for a few days, lots of power poles were burned up and the natural gas had to be shut off.

The Oakland Hills fire started when DH was, incidentally, working on floors in the Oakland Hills. I think installing in new construction but I can't remember what he told me. The scuttlebutt he heard at the time was that guys working construction, maybe in particular doing floors, left bags of sawdust - very combustible - and that started it. Especially if the sawdust is from sanding already finished floors, so the sawdust has residue of floor finish. DH was quite certain that was the actual cause of the fire.