Longtime Oakland Hills resident's nonprofit helps promote fire preparedness
For residents of the Oakland Hills, the prospect of another wildfire always remains a concern. This week's Jefferson Awards winner has made it his mission to make the hills and other high-risk areas safer.
Ken Benson remembers watching news coverage of the 1991 Oakland Hills firestorm that killed 25 people and gutted more than 3,200 homes.
"I had never seen one move that rapidly," Benson told CBS News Bay Area. "My thoughts were, of course, for the people that were trying to flee."
What Benson saw prompted him and his late wife, Dinah, to work toward fire prevention, especially when they later bought a home in the Oakland Hills.
They co-founded the Oakland Firesafe Council in 2014, along with Sue and Gordon Piper, a couple who had lost their house in the 1991 firestorm.
The nonprofit aims to reduce wildfire danger in high-risk areas of Oakland and Alameda County.
For example, neighbors make their homes more fire-resistant by managing vegetation that could fuel the flames. And they prepare for the worst.
"Even though it's a beautiful place - we live in a place that can turn very dangerous and hazardous in a moment," Benson explained.
In addition, Benson has helped get fire departments and city leaders to prioritize fire prevention and emergency training and coordinate their plans with neighbors in West Alameda and West Contra Costa Counties.
Doug Mosher, vice chair of the Firesafe Council, said, "He's just done a very good job as president, as co-founder, and Oakland owes a large debt of gratitude to Ken."
In fact, when the Keller Fire broke out, evacuating hundreds of Oakland hills residents in October, fire crews quickly attacked and contained the wind-whipped flames to 15 acres and two damaged homes.
It could have been a lot worse if the city, fire department, and firesafe council had not done their emergency planning.
"We missed a big one, but part of the reason is people were prepared, so that worked," Benson said.
Benson recently moved out of state to be with most of his family, but he still serves as secretary of the Oakland Firesafe Council as it meets regularly over Zoom.
He said the best part of volunteering is knowing he's helping save lives.
Benson shares the story of a fire survivor he met out of town a few years ago at a hotel.
"The manager came out from behind the desk and hugged me and said, 'Thank you for your website, for our guides, for your .pdfs, your information that you share.' It helped us survive the terrible fire in Redding," Benson recalled. "That was one of the best memories I've had about why it's important to do this."
For his leadership in keeping neighbors in high risk-areas safer from wildfires, this week's Jefferson Award in the Bay Area goes to Ken Benson.
