5-alarm blaze damages homes in California’s Oakland Hills neighborhood amid Fire Weather Warnings

OAKLAND, Calif. – A 5-alarm fire outside of Oakland caused hundreds of people to be evacuated on Friday afternoon as multiple agencies worked to control the blaze. As of Friday evening, the Oakland Fire Department said it believed its crews had stopped the forward progress of the Keller Fire, which destroyed about 13-15 acres and burned two homes. Still, the fire was just 35% contained, and crews were expected to aggressively attack the fire throughout Saturday.Firefighters said they believe the fire started in the median of nearby Intersate 580 before quickly spreading, triggering dozens of crews to respond by both air and land to try to contain the blaze. “By the time we got on scene, it had jumped from the front of a house across to a grove of eucalyptus behind the house,” Oakland’s Fire Chief Damon Covington told FOX 2 Bay Area. “We immediately called for a 2nd, 3rd and 4th alarm. We have resources from around the Bay Area on scene, including Cal Fire air resources. We’re in pretty good shape. We still have a lot of work to do.”Photos and videos taken in one of the impacted neighborhoods showed smoke rising from at least one home as firefighters worked to attack hotspots. None of the residents were reported injured, and the fire chief praised the response of neighboring jurisdictions.During the height of the fire activity, parts of I-580 were shut down, but the freeway has since reopened.THOUSANDS WITHOUT POWER AS ‘DIABLO WINDS’ CREATE FIRE THREAT IN CALIFORNIADelane Sims’ family home was one of the two damaged in the fire. The fire blew out her home’s front window.Sims said her husband was at home alone sleeping when the fire reached their home. “I think I’m still in shock, but most of all, I’m just incredibly grateful to God that my husband’s life was spared,” Sims told FOX 2 Bay Area. “My husband called me and said, ‘Our house is burning.’ He heard an explosion.”She said it was the heat from the approaching flames that blew out their front window. “And that’s what woke him up so he could get out of the house with just the clothes on his back,” Sims said. “Had that not happened, I don’t know what would have happened. That’s why I’m incredibly grateful that my husband got out of there.”The blaze erupted nearly 33 years to the day that a firestorm destroyed thousands of homes and businesses in 1991. On Oct. 19, a grass fire quickly grew out of control, killing at least 25 people and injuring many more in the hills north of Oakland. At the time, damages were estimated to be around $1.5 billion, making the inferno one of this nation’s most costly fires.After-action reports completed in the wake of the fire determined that a lack of accessible water played a significant role in the failure of fire suppression efforts.Conditions were less favorable for fires on Friday compared to more than three decades ago, yet large areas of the state still met the criteria for fire weather alerts.CALIFORNIA’S PARK FIRE NOW AMONG 5 LARGEST IN STATE HISTORY AS HERO FIREFIGHTERS WORK TO DOUSE FLAMESAccording to the FOX Forecast Center, the combination of northerly to easterly winds and low relative humidity values caused local National Weather Service offices to issue Red Flag Warnings for millions of Californians. The phenomenon known as Diablo winds was expected to reach 45-55 mph, with locally higher gusts. PG&E, the Golden State’s largest utility provider, preemptively shut off power to thousands of customers this week to help reduce the threat of wildfires. The power outages are part of the company’s Public Safety Power Shutoff program (PSPS), which is designed to reduce the risk of electrical equipment starting fires. Farther south, the phenomenon known as “Santa Ana winds” was also expected to impact parts of Southern California.In addition to the Keller Fire, CAL FIRE reported responding to sizable blazes in both Solano and Riverside counties, but neither had triggered widespread evacuations.