An overnight fire near Oakland’s Sheffield Village neighborhood torched 2.5 acres of grass and trees before firefighters were able to bring it under control early Sunday morning.
The blaze began shortly before 10:15 p.m. Saturday, near Covington Street and Marlow Drive and quickly spread through steep terrain near the neighborhood, just east of Interstate 580. Oakland firefighters responded to the scene with help from the East Bay Regional Parks District, the Alameda County Fire Department and Cal Fire, according to Oakland Fire Department spokesman Michael Hunt.
The fire burned an area directly north of the neighborhood, placing houses on Marlow Drive at greatest risk. However, it never got close enough to prompt evacuations, Hunt said, and crews managed to contain its spread before it could reach the Dunsmuir Hellman Historic Estate.
About 80 firefighters helped battle the blaze, which was brought under control about two and a half hours later. No structures were impacted.
The 4Alarm Fire is now UNDER CONTROL (a/o 1240AM): No homes impacted; no evacuations were needed; No injuries to civilians or fire personnel. Incident Commander (B3) is beginning to release some mutual aid resources from incident. Area will be on Fire Watch thru the morning. pic.twitter.com/eQnr3Q5qbv
— Oakland Firefighters (@OaklandFireLive) June 19, 2022
The cause of the blaze remains under investigation.
“Conditions continue to be extremely dangerous with the dry vegetation,” Hunt said. “We were fortunate last night that there was very little wind.”
“This was a positive result for something that could have been quite bad,” he added.
Firefighters are expected to remain on-site throughout Sunday watching for hot-spots and flareups.
Hunt said that the ongoing, historic drought affecting the Bay Area and the rest of the state has left much of the vegetation in the Oakland Hills from San Leandro past the Caldecott Tunnel tinder dry and at risk of fire. He warned residents to remain vigilant and always ready to evacuate at a moment’s notice.
“People should continue to be prepared to evacuate should a fire come to their neighborhood,” Hunt said. “Always being prepared is the thing to be mindful of.”
Source: www.mercurynews.com