A fast-moving vegetation fire broke out Friday afternoon in the hills of Oakland, California, burning homes on a day of critical fire conditions in the Bay Area’s upper elevations.
The Oakland Fire Department said the fire was burning in the area of Interstate Highway 580, Mountain Boulevard and Keller Avenue. At least four structures in the area of Mountain Boulevard and Maynard Avenue were fully involved, according to the Fire Department.
The fire was initially reported at about 1:30 p.m. and by 1:50 p.m. it had gone to three alarms. A fourth alarm was called at about 2:15 p.m. During that time, winds in the area were measured at around 11 mph with gusts up to 22 mph.
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Residents of the Caballo Hills neighborhood north of Highway 580 were being evacuated, according to the Fire Department. The evacuations were in effect along Campus Drive east of Stoneridge Court and all homes on Crystal Ridge Court. Residents on Altura Place and Rifle Lane were also being evacuated.
A map of the evacuation zones can be found here. An evacuation center was set up at Burckhalter Elementary School.
Over 80 firefighters were on the scene as of 2:30 p.m. Cal Fire air support and ground units were also battling the fire, which had burned eight acres as of 3 p.m.
As of 2:20 p.m., CHP issued a severe traffic alert due to the fire burning along I-580 and closed all westbound lanes. Firefighters were seen putting out a spot fire next to the shoulder of westbound Highway 580 possibly started by embers of the fire.Â
Motorists were urged to use alternate routes to avoid the area. By 3:30 p.m. one westbound lane had reopened. There was no estimated time to fully reopen the roadway. Â
The Bay Area was under a Wind Advisory with gusts expected to reach 50-65 mph in higher elevations. The National Weather Service issued a Red Flag Warning for most of the Bay Area and Central Coast because of the critically dry conditions.
There was no immediate word on the cause of the fire.
The fire is burning close to the area of a catastrophic firestorm nearly 33 years ago to the day. On Oct. 19, 1991, a smoldering grass fire that was not completely extinguished reignited and burned out of control in the Oakland and Berkeley hills for days, killing 25 people, injuring 150 others, and burning more than 3,000 homes.
This is a breaking news update. More information to be added as available.
