Fast-spreading wildfires damaged at least seven homes in the Oakland neighborhood, fire officials said

San Francisco
AP
—

A fast-spreading fire fanned by strong winds damaged at least seven homes in a hillside neighborhood of the city of Oakland on Friday, where more than 500 people were ordered to evacuate, officials said.

No injuries were reported, but Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao said at least six homes were damaged and at least one was a total loss.

Oakland Fire Chief Damon Covington said calls came in around 1:30 p.m. reporting a fire outside a home in the Oakland hills. Crews arrived as the inferno quickly grew, with winds ranging from a calm breeze to gusts of 40 mph during Friday's red flag.

“The wind was whipping,” Covington said.

The fire occurred near the 580 Freeway, which connects the San Francisco Bay Area with central California, causing traffic jams as people tried to leave the area and smoke billowing over the city of 440,000.

The fire charred through eucalyptus trees, which spread the fire as flames spread over the roadsides, Covington said. Within three hours it grew to 13 hectares. The emergency services were able to stop the advance around 4 p.m., but numerous firefighters continued to fight the fire.

The cause of the Oakland fire was not immediately known.

Authorities warned of fire danger across much of the state through Saturday, from the central coast through the Bay Area to northern Shasta County, not far from the Oregon border.

A California utility has shut off power in 19 counties in the north-central part of the state as a strong “Diablo wind” – notorious for its hot, dry gusts in the fall – increased the risk of wildfires.

The Oakland Hills fire burned a day before Oct. 19, the anniversary of a 1991 fire that destroyed nearly 3,000 homes and killed 25 people.

Smoke was visible from 2 to 3 miles away Friday. Fire trucks and ambulances struggled to get through traffic jams in the highway's westbound lanes, their sirens blaring to encourage vehicles to get out of their way as they raced toward the fire. The traffic frustrated some drivers so much that they drove off the road on ramps while others drove on the shoulder of the highway. The side streets also remained heavily congested.

Red flag warnings were also issued in parts of Southern California, where another brush fire was burning on homes in the Rolling Heights area of ​​Los Angeles County, the Los Angeles County Fire Department said.

The fire was reported around 3 p.m. in the hills of Hacienda Heights, where firefighters on the ground and in the air tried to keep the 5-acre fire from reaching surrounding homes, the department said. No evacuations were ordered.

About 16,000 customers were without power Friday after Pacific Gas and Electric shut off power.

During a Diablo wind, the air is so dry that relative humidity drops, vegetation dries out and is ready to burn. The name – “Diablo” is Spanish for “devil” – is used informally for a hot wind that blows inland toward the coast near the San Francisco region as high pressure builds to the west.

According to the National Weather Service, the “Diablo wind” is expected to produce sustained winds of 35 mph (56 km/h) in many areas, with possible gusts of over 60 mph (100 km/h) on mountain peaks. Strong winds are expected to continue for part of the weekend.

In total, about 20,000 customers could temporarily lose power over the next few days, PG&E said in a statement Friday.

The National Weather Service issued red flag warnings for the valleys and mountains of Los Angeles County, parts of the Inland Empire and the San Bernardino Mountains of Santa Anas, dry, warm and gusty northeast winds blowing from interior Southern California toward the California coast and Offshore winds move in the opposite direction of the normal onshore flow that carries moist air from the Pacific into the region.

Winds in the greater Los Angeles area will not be as strong as in the north, with gusts between 25 and 40 mph possible in mountains and foothills, said Mike Wofford, a meteorologist at the weather service's Los Angeles office.

The strongest winds were recorded in the Santa Monica and San Gabriel mountains, where there were gusts between 45 and 55 mph Friday and isolated gusts of up to 60 mph, he said.

According to the National Weather Service in Reno, Nevada, some mountain peaks around Lake Tahoe received light snow overnight Friday. Temperatures near freezing point are expected again from Friday evening to Saturday

Wind sensors on two peaks west of Lake Tahoe recorded wind speeds of 75 and 104 miles per hour Friday. Strong winds are expected to continue through the night before easing Saturday morning, the National Weather Service said.

The service also issued its first freeze warning of the season along the eastern Sierra front, effective 2 a.m. to 9 a.m. Friday, from south of Carson City north through Reno into Lassen, Sierra and Plumas counties in California, where temperatures will drop to lows could be 20s Fahrenheit.