Debra Pryor, left, and Rita Sahai will be honored later this month as part of the 20th anniversary celebration of the Alameda County Women’s Hall of Fame. Photos: Alameda County Debra Pryor, left, and Rita Sahai will be honored later this month as part of the 20th anniversary celebration of the Alameda County Women’s Hall […]
Debra Pryor
Posted inFire
Fire chief retires after 27 years, with many ‘firsts’
Pryor said she looks forward to spending time with her family and “de-stressing” in her retirement. Leadership, she said, “is about empowering people regardless of how they feel about me. I try to be as inclusive as I can, and I try to be a consensus-builder in that process.” Photo: Frances Dinkelspiel Pryor said she […]
Posted inCommunity, Crime & Safety, Fire, Nature
On Saturday: Berkeley practices for a major earthquake
The bright red line shows the Hayward Fault running through Berkeley Tomorrow morning, a (simulated) 6.9 earthquake on the Hayward Fault hits Berkeley. Do you know what to do in a major disaster? Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT) from across the city will be participating in a live exercise both to test their skills and […]
Posted inFire
Nine firefighters are promoted in Berkeley ceremony
Nine newly promoted Berkeley firefighters are sworn in on the Berkeley Rep stage on Friday March 30, 2012. Photo: Tracey Taylor Nine Berkeley firefighters were sworn into new jobs Friday in a badge pinning ceremony held at the Berkeley Rep Theatre. Berkeley Fire Chief Debra Pryor presented the newly promoted firefighters with their badges which were […]
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Fire Chief Debra Pryor: It’s important not to forget
Chief Debra Pryor: “There were a lot of lessons learned” Chief Debra Pryor: “There were a lot of lessons learned” In October 1991, Debra Pryor was a newly promoted Lieutenant in the Berkeley Fire Department. She spent the morning of October 20 in the South Bay with her mother, but when she returned to Berkeley, […]
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Eight Berkeley firefighters promoted at pinning ceremony
A battalion of fire trucks lined up outside the Berkeley Rep on badge pinning day. Photos: Tracey Taylor. A row of parked fire engines made an impressive sight on a rainy Friday afternoon on Addison Street as, inside the Berkeley Repertory Thrust Theatre, eight Berkeley firefighers were promoted in a badge-pinning ceremony which also served […]
Posted inFire
New fire equipment can shoot water from bay to hills
Each pump can shoot 6,000 gallons a minute During the 1991 Oakland hills fire, which destroyed more than 2,500 homes in Berkeley and Oakland and killed 25 people, firefighters were stymied by a lack of water. The pumps that pushed water through the water mains and into the hills failed when the electricity went off. […]
