Oakland Hills residents affected by Keller Fire hold training meeting
Fires raging in Los Angeles are fueling questions in Oakland neighborhoods about how to address the threat of wildfires, with two shuttering fire districts.
Delaine Sims, who lost her Oakland Hills home to a brush fire in October, reached out to her neighbors in a continued push to prepare them in the event of a disaster.
"We also need to be proactive and so to get as much information as possible, to come together, and, you know, just sort of be a think tank and support for each other," Sims said.
Sims' neighborhood is in one of the two fire districts temporarily closing in the wake of Oakland's budget deficit. She told CBS News Bay Area that her district's response played a critical role in extinguishing the fire at her home and preventing a larger spread.
Her personal experience fueled a months-long effort to inform her neighbors about tips to first prevent fire disasters and what to do in the aftermath.
During Tuesday night's meeting, both Sims and the Fire Safe Council shared critical tips to help those impacted by the October fire prepare and recover.
"Some people can recover from that, but there's a lot of people who can't, and it's very difficult to recover emotional and mentally," Sims said. "It's very difficult, and so, so that's really important as well."
Rashida Hutchins, one of Sims neighbors, said the LA fires have played a role in how she plans to protect her family and home from potential disasters. Now, that more responsibility may fall on her, she said will adjust her escape plan as much as she can.
"I have a plan in place now, but I didn't really have one before, other than just we have an emergency bag to grab," Hutchins said.
"Now, I do have some just like personal sentimental items, letters, some photos that I definitely would be sad about if, if they were lost. So I've just kind of added the more personal items to the bag."
The meeting emphasized escape routes and safe ways to extinguish fires before they grow to dangerous sizes. But Sims and Hutchins, like most of their neighbors, hope it never comes to that.