L.A. Wildfires Like Oakland Hills 17 Years Ago

written by S.G. • November 21, 2008 Leave a Comment 

LOCAL NEWS: Feature

If you watched the news a few days ago, you would have seen the video on the wildfires that were burning in Los Angeles last weekend. Now, what would you do if you were put in the same situations as the people who were in L.A.?

What would you do if you walked out of your house on a windy day and saw black smoke and a blazing fire just a few blocks away from your house? Would you scream? Would you run into your house and stay inside to hide?

PHOTO CAPTION: Imagine this same shot looking up into the Oakland Hills, taken last month, but 17 years ago… and instead? Heavy smoke and dark skies, with ashes falling down from above. (Looks kind of like L.A. too!). People living in Oakland and Berkeley faced a wildfire right in their front and back yards, and needed to escape fast!

Many people were put through this same type of situation on October 20, 1991.

A big fire spread around the northern hills of the Oakland area and southeastern Berkeley. It started around 10:30 a.m. and took up to three days to get the fire cooled down. The actual fires weren’t put out until the next morning.

If you were at St. Leo’s church on that Sunday, you would have been able to see and smell the smoke from the fire a “few” blocks away (not really, that’s why it’s in quotes) since our school is near the area where the fire was burning.

Sadly, the deadly fire killed up to 25 people, and injured 150. Over 3,000 homes were lost and about 1500 acres of land destroyed. Last month was the 17th anniversary of the disaster.

Almost every firefighter in Oakland and Berkeley showed up at the fire scene. It was so big that Alameda, San Francisco, and other cities around the Bay Area and even the state came to help fight the fire.

(Source: Wikipedia.org Entry- “Oakland Firestorm of 1991“)

Semhal G., 8th grade
Editor-in-Chief / THE LION LEDGER