What did we learn from the fire of 1991?
18 years ago the hills of north Oakland and south Berkeley were on fire. I was living in the South Bay at the time, but remember sitting on the deck of a friends’ Potrero Hill home watching the huge fire across the bay. Back then it seemed remote, far away, but now I live very close to the part of the East Bay that burned in 1991.
On Monday on the weekly Rebooting The News podcast that I do with Jay Rosen, our guest was Cluetrain author and Harvard researcher Doc Searls. We wanted Doc on the show because he provides broad coverage of the fires in Southern California, from the vantage point of his home in the hills outside Santa Barbara. He fills in the blanks by connecting local bloggers who are experiencing the fire first-hand, with public information sources, maps and aerial photography. He’s just one man, but he does an amazing job.
At one point in the 45-minute interview, I asked him what we should do to prepare for a fire in the East Bay. It seems that sooner or later we’re going to have a repeat of the 1991 fire, and while we tend to be aware of the danger of earthquakes, there isn’t much talk about fires. Until a fire season like 2009.
Bluntly, if the hills above or below your house, or to the right or left, are on fire — what do you do? I assume you leave, but is there any preparation that will make it more likely that your family and your house survive the fire?
Which way to exit? Probably not through the Caldecott Tunnel. 80? 880? The Bay Bridge? What about public transit options?
What communication tools are available? Which radio stations carry the best info? Which websites? Will cell phones work? Perhaps this is something that InBerkeley could help the community prepare for.
Where is the fire likely to happen? Are we more or less at risk this year?
There is at least one remnant of the 1991 fire — it’s hard to find a vacant safe deposit box in banks on Solano Ave. I eventually did find one, when I moved to Berkeley in 2006, in a bank that opened a few years after the fire. One thing people learned from the fire was to store important papers and valuables in a bank.
There must be other practices, like that one, that we can learn from the experience of 1991.
We’re interested in learning what you have learned. If you were here in 1991, please share your story. Either as a comment, or via email to tips@inberkeley.com. Stories with pictures are more interesting. If you’ve lived through a fire elsewhere and have a story or tip to share, please do so.
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From the Wikipedia article: “many narrow, windy roads in the area were crowded with parked cars, including many in front of fire hydrants; this prevented fire trucks and ambulances from getting to certain areas and connecting fire hoses.”
So one thing we can do is get our cars out of the neighborhood if there’s a fire.
Why evacuate very far? If there’s somewhere to go (e.g., a friend’s house in Walnut Creek), sure. But there’s lots of space, e.g., Caesar Chavez Park (public land) and the racetrack (private, with space also for many hundreds of vehicles) that could support a tent city, and which would be far from fire danger. Do Berkeley and Albany have a fire evacuation plan that would allow for the orderly use of those spaces? For that matter, most of the area that isn’t in the hills/in neighborhoods w/o firetruck access probably isn’t at great risk.
My fear about fires is that they’d be the natural consequence of a major quake, when gas lines get ruptured. So even if it’s not “fire season,” we could suddenly see the fire-fighting resources get taxed.
I’m guessing that the #1 thing to do re fires is to ensure that one’s own lot is appropriately maintained, e.g., no excess fuels in the form of untended grass, shrubs, scrub, etc., and there’s a sufficient distance between the house and things likely to catch fire.
@Ross Stapleton-Gray
That’s a great point Ross. Now I have to get my tent out of storage.
David Rowland writes: “There is one bit of negative wisdom which may not apply elsewhere. About 25 people died in the 91 fire, most of them trapped on Hiller Highlands, the hill behind the Claremont Hotel. The access roads were narrow and were quickly blocked. After the fire there was talk about widening those roads, but the property owners wanted to rebuild with bloated houses and refused to give up any right of way. The roads are as they were, and another fire will trap people again.
“Incidentally, Berkeley has some nice pathways and stairs which were put in after the ‘23 fire as a safety measure.”
Must read: Russell Brand’s fabulous essay on things learned from the SF Marina fire!
Keep the things you want for quick evacuation handy: child and pet transport stuff (e.g. carrier, harness & leash), family photos or other sentimental items, first aid kit, etc.
We moved here about 5 years ago from somewhere that fire wasnt a significant problem. So, thanks for posting this article, its getting me to think a bit more about prepping for fire vs the omni-present earthquake threat.
Please keep the tips coming!
Art Medlar writes:
It focuses more on the community while the inberkeley article
asks from an individual perspective, but the FEMA report
on the fire is absolutely gripping reading:
http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/downloads/pdf/publications/tr-060.pdf
As is this later report from a different agency:
http://www.nifc.gov/preved/comm_guide/wildfire/FILES/WORD%20FILES/APPENDIX/APPENDIX%209%20-%20Fire%20Mitigation/WUI%20RESOURCES%20-%20OTHER/10%20-%20Oakland%20Story%20Bklet%20-%209878.pdf
Oakland’s non-standard hydrant threads stand out as a
major “what were they thinking?”
Some important factors in improving the odds for your home in such a situation include the kind and amount of landscaping surrounding your home, the closure of certain fire promoters like the space under a deck, and the choice of roofing material, wood shakes being the worst. I’m sure the Berkeley Fire Department not only has guidelines for improving your chances, but most likely also has an outreach program for community groups to teach homeowners how they can take steps with their homes to lower the fire risk.
Here in Kensington on the fire interface with Tilden Park, one local resident who used to be in charge of the water supply system for the SFFD, actually got EBMUD to redesign the water mains in the area to provide additional fire hydrants and increased water supply and pressure along the interface.
It’s not much better if you are “prepared” and the place next door is a tinderbox … Neighborhood preparedness, is the game!
There are a bunch of city sponsored Community Emergency Response Training (CERT) courses coming up this month, see: http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ContentDisplay.aspx?id=3920
And in our neighborhood, we’re so organized that we have a planned disaster every year … to practice! Next drill is October 17 10AM. Check us out at http://northside-emprep.org/ Every year we learn something … not the least of which is: meet your neighbors!!!
wildfires in southern californa
InBerkeley’s own Frances Dinkelspiel lost her home in the 1991 fire. Naturally it was a devastating experience. I wrote about it for a “disaster special” published in the Financial Times in 2006. You can read it here: http://www.tktaylor.com/?p=37
To second Yvonne, several neighborhood groups have disaster preparedness groups which are recognized by and have liaison with the City’s first responders. The training program is part of that. Active groups develop community caches of emergency supplies such as barrels of water, first aid equipment, bull-horns, walkie-talkies, flashlights, basic rescue tools, and batteries and/or generators.
On a personal level, for comms walkie talkies are not that expensive and for everything, having a kit similar to what the community groups have is not a bad thing to do (if you can afford it and will maintain it). Having several days of food and water on hand it a very good idea. I know of at least one ham operator somewhere in the hills and there are probably several and if there is one in your area you should find out who because they’ll be a hub if you get cut off.
In my opinion – one I’m sure not everyone shares – consider also laying in a firearm if you can do so securely and learn how to use it safely. I hate to say it but after a “big one”, if the hills are “on their own” for several days, I won’t be too surprised if you have bigger problems than threat of fire.
I remember the ‘91 fire. I remember when it broke out that, down in People’s Park, it was almost a joke. That’s where I first got the news of it, in fact. “Hey, did you hear? The hills are on fire. Wanna play some chess?”
I remember a lot of people having their lives pretty devastated and lots of news footage that was agonizing to watch. It was a very sad time.
I remember the experts doing the post mortem. Their gist was: “Don’t act so surprised. It’s not like you weren’t warned.”
I remember when rebuilding projects took place in the most unconsidered way.
I think that a lot of residents of Berkeley don’t know how basically crazy we all are for settling here, at least in such numbers. As you’ve observed, the hills are at best a slow and relentless mud-slide. The water supply is insufficient. The big quake is sure to come. Hill-fires reliably happen. Emergency evacuation from the region in mass numbers is essentially impossible. The number one manufactured product of the regional economy is (often violent) crime. The real estate has been historically over-priced for quite a while. The built environment suffers a paucity of public spaces that help to build local community and culture. Public transportation is a disaster. On and on. We’re collectively nuts.
-t
I just want to correct some misinformation in the comments section.
The roads in Oakland were not widened after the fire, but not because homeowners were reluctant to part with land in order to build bigger houses. The homeowners affected by the fire, in fact, voted to create a special assessment district and paid more taxes in order to control the growth of underbrush in the area. Once again, everything came down to money. The city of Oakland just didn’t have the funds to widen the narrow streets. (It would have meant the construction of numerous and costly retaining walls)
Most of the deaths happened on the hill behind the Claremont, most notably on Charing Cross Road. The Hiller Highland hill is one hill south, actually.
As someone who lost her house in the fire I think there is some stuff one can do to prepare but when the conditions are like they were on October 1991, it’s a matter of luck and wind and manpower if your home survives.
It’s helpful to have a fire resistant roof (not wood shingles) and to keep brush trimmed in a 30-foot defensive perimeter.
The North Hills Phoenix Association has a member who has printed up fliers to put on cars parked in a way to obstruct the easy passage of fire trucks.
All I know is that 18 years after the fire, I still gather my valuables by the front door on any day I smell smoke in the air.
@Frances Dinkelspiel
Thanks Frances, I was hoping you’d comment on this thread. Your perspective on this is super-valuable.
I was in Berkeley at the time of the ‘91 fire.. watching from the roof of my warehouse at the time, on 3rd street.
After the fire I was hired by an architecture firm, and I spent a year doing 100 fire booklets for 100 homeowners, coordinating with the architects in the office who drew the “as was” plans of the old homes.
These were homes that typically had been purchased in the prior 10 years for approximately $200 – 250k. They were typically 1500-1800 square feet. The “to be” drawings had to replicate the house, except bring it to 1991 code, and then there was what the client really wanted (typically if they were rebuilding: 10,000 sq ft house in order to feel cocooned and protected). So the insurance company would typically pay for my work documenting the house and costs, plus three sets of plans by architects, plus construction management. Then the insurance would pay the client 3 yrs of rent on a comparable house (usually at that time about $300k) plus permit fees, plus landscaping, plus the cost to rebuild the house, plus 90% for contents no matter what they had inside (warhols or posters, gucci suits or gap tshirts). Plus the values of their cars, boats, etc. Most clients did really well. We were typically able to get a cash settlement of around $3m tax free or more depending. Many clients sold their lots for $100k and went to Italy or somewhere to decompress after the trauma and just hang with the cash.
At first, most of us working with these people felt really badly for them. They had lost all of their worldly possessions, maybe pets, one woman ran all the way down the hill with flames leaping after her with her pet in her arms and the clothes on her back. But after about a year, and gobs of compensation later, the fire loss people had become a bunch of overly entitled whiners who still wanted more more more: money, sympathy, possessions, protection. It was ridiculous.
Honestly most of the people working for them couldn’t even afford to buys houses in the flats in bad neighborhoods, much less the nice ones the victims had with those gorgeous views, and we had to listen to the traumatic whining over and over daily of these very rich self-centered people and just be sympathetic. Not all but a lot of them were unable to get perspective or to see how incredibly privileged they were, despite their losses. They became pathetic and the newspapers began to report on backlash reactions because of how incredibly demanding some of these people were behaving.
I would say do these things in addition to the things mentioned above (like clearing brush throughout the neighborhood or :
– make sure you have a insurance policy that pays for “replacement” of the house, plus contents, plus vehicles, plus services like architectural drawings and rental while the house is being redone. Less than that will result in an actual cash loss when trying to rebuild.
– if you have expensive art have all of it scheduled separately. we had clients with houses full of warhols and picassos etc and none of it was listed.. so they were simply reimbursed for “90% of whatever the house was determined to be worth.” Ditto for other collectables or jewelry, rare cars or furnature.
– make sure you have photos of your house, everywhere, inside and out somewhere else (online, with family members at their homes.. whatever). We often would contact family to get old birthday party or other event photos.. to show, say, wood panelling behind the cake in the background.. whatever we could to document things.
– make a safety plan for post disaster that includes a phone number that everyone in the house and relatives can call, and have everyone memorize it (no cell phone reliance, just in case). This phone should be able to relay messages to all about everyone’s whereabouts, etc. Don’t plan to use email because if the laptop burns, it may be a while before someone can get to email or figure out how to check in (think grandma). You need to be able to call immediately, verify you are alive, and communicate where you are and can be reached. Cell services often get overloaded during crises so think that one through as well.
– make an exit plan for during a disaster with a place to go if any household members are at home when the disaster occurs. Know routes and locations, know where to go and what to do for multiple scenarios.
– make a pet plan if you have those.. including what to do if there is no car to get the pet out if someone is at home and the rest are gone with the cars.
Lastly, think about the situation in advance, get valuables into safety deposit boxes, and remember that it’s just stuff and only the people, the pets and maybe data or family photos (in other words non-replaceable items) matter most. The rest doesn’t really matter and isn’t more important than other people. It can be replaced, given proper insurance or funding.
If a disaster does happen, get therapy. It is a loss and it’s scary, but life happens and it’s not the end of the world. Things will go on. I have a friend in chicago who’s family house burnt down twice (yeah.. crazy.. once by lightening and once 20 yrs later due to an electrical fire). They are still healthy and happy and have perspective and know their friends and family, plus others in the community matter more than things. They have insurance and they just roll with it.
mary