East Bay Regional Park District Extends Park Closure Due To Fire Danger
OAKLAND (CBS SF) -- Officials with the East Bay Regional Park District on Monday announced the closure of 11 parks in the East Bay hills would be extend through Wednesday morning due to concerns over continued high winds and fire danger.
The closure will now go to Wednesday morning at 8 a.m. Continued high winds gusting up to 60-70 mph in the ridgelines are expected through Tuesday evening, parks officials noted in a press release.
Parks that will remain temporarily closed to the public include Wildcat Canyon, Tilden, Reinhardt Redwood, Roberts, Huckleberry, Sibley, Claremont Canyon, Leona Canyon, Anthony Chabot, Lake Chabot and Kennedy Grove.
The overnight "20-year wind event" that spurred a red-flag warning and public safety power shutoff by PG&E caused 14 downed powerlines in or near the closed East Bay hill area parks. Sustained winds of 21-45 mph were measured in higher elevations with gusts at Mount Diablo State Park reaching 94 mph mid-slope at 1,925-feet elevation.
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Additional damage to the parks included a number of fallen trees and tree limbs which park staff are removing to clear roads and trails.
Over the weekend, Park District fire crews responded to several fires including a human-initiated bonfire at Crown Beach and a car fire ignited by an oil pan at Chabot staging area on Redwood Road. Park District firefighters also assisted Alameda County Fire in containing a vegetation fire at Eden Canyon Road near Castro Valley.
"The East Bay Regional Park District is following the NWS issuance of the Red Flag Warnings to be extra cautious, especially in the East Bay hills during these wind events," said Park District Fire Chief Aileen Theile. "We want to protect people from falling trees or limbs. We apologize for the inconvenience to those who want to access these hill area parks, but the public's safety is our priority."
Additional information is available at www.ebparks.org.
