Oakland Hills fire brings memories of devastating 1991 fire for residents
Frightening moments were seen in the Oakland Hills Friday afternoon as a fire raced up steep terrain destroying one home and threatening others.
Oakland Fire said another home suffered some damage but it could've been much worse.
For many of the residents in the Oakland Hills seeing the fire remind them of the devastating firestorm that burned much of the area 33 years ago.
Rosie and her daughter were among the more than 200 people ordered to evacuate Friday night.
"I just saw a bunch of flames in the hills and I kept seeing like smoke coming and I got really scared," Victoria said.
"We were crying," Rosie added. "Scared because it's been close before but never this close."
The Oakland Fire Department had help from nearby agencies and Cal Fire to try to get the fire out as quickly as possible. Two helicopters hovered above dropping water and two fixed-wing planes spread fire retardant on the hillside. Oakland Battalion Chief Frank Tijiboy shed some light on the origin of the fire.
"We do believe it started on the median of the 580 freeway and with the wind and it was dry, it was fast-moving," he said. "It jumped over the street here, back into this house and it just went up the hill."
Uber driver Roderick Spikes said he saw exactly where the fire started.
"I was getting back in the freeway and that's when I saw a medium-sized garbage bag, barely lit," Spikes said. "No brush was on fire. No trees on fire. The bag was barely getting started."
Spikes showed KPIX on his phone that he immediately called 911 at 1:23 in the afternoon. He had hoped his quick actions would've stopped the fire before it reached any of the homes.
"It is frustrating," he added. "To see people lose their home, their comfort, their safe place for something that could've been avoided."
This fire did destroy the home of Delane Sims, a well respected advocate for young women in the East Bay and founder of the Steps to Success program. She is extremely thankful her husband made it out of the house alive and for her friend, District 7 Councilmember Treva Reid calling her after she spotted these flames near her home.
"I'm just grateful in our time of need, that someone reached out and did the right thing to make a difference," Sims said. "So I love you and I appreciate you so much. I mean who would've known, you saw this and you called."
Oakland Fire said the blaze could have done a lot more damage if the area wasn't under a Red Flag Warning. Extra resources were brought in to be able to respond quickly to a fire.
"We were prepared," said Chief Damon Covington with the Oakland Fire Department. "We prepositioned apparatus for our city. As well as throughout our county in anticipation of a fire of this magnitude."