The winds stopped before pushing the fire into our canyon — and that was all it took to separate us from the others.
Fires
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Twenty years after a catastrophe, recollections — Part 3
Berkeleyside invited readers to submit their stories about the 1991 Oakland-Berkeley Firestorm. Here we publish the third of three selections. ………………………….. By Peter Jenny: In 1991, I was living on 45th street in North Oakland, between Broadway and Telegraph. My neighbor and I were going to have a yard sale October 20th, and I went out […]
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Will Wright: Inspired to make The Sims after losing a home
Will Wright: After losing his home in the Oakland-Berkeley firestorm, he created a video game centered on homes. Photo: Anya Zavarzina Editor’s note: This story was first published in 2011. We’re resharing it on Oct. 20, 2021, the 30th anniversary of the Oakland-Berkeley Firestorm. Will Wright’s home was one of the first to burn in […]
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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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With elegy book, community becomes part of exhibition
A guest leafs through the Firestorm elegy book at the Berkeley Art Museum on Tuesday, Oct. 11. Photo: Brian Scott Speaking about his new exhibition of photographs which opened simultaneously at the Berkeley Art Museum and the Oakland Museum of California this week, Richard Misrach says it is as much a community event as an […]
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20 years after a catastrophe, recollections — Part 1
Shortly after Valenta de Regil finished a special paint project at this house on Alvarado, it burned to the ground in the Firestorm Berkeleyside invited readers to submit their stories about the 1991 Oakland-Berkeley Firestorm. Here we publish the first of three selections. By Valenta de Regil: October 19th, 1991 — A Saturday, hot like the […]
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Looking for familiar landmarks, seeing what little was left
Aftermath of the Oakland-Berkeley Firestorm by Richard Misrach, part of an exhibition opening tonight at the Berkeley Art Museum October 23, 1991: At the foot of Broadway Terrace, I squeezed into a police car with another couple. We rode in silence, afraid and anxious to get close enough to see what remained of our homes and […]
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No warning, then a crisis: Outrunning the Firestorm
Deirdre English had to flee for her life when the firestorm erupted.
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On 20th anniversary, community remembers Firestorm
The city, as well as Berkeley’s art museum and Berkeleyside, are commemorating the Oakland-Berkeley Firestorm.
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20 years on, share your memories of a disaster
The Oakland-Berkeley hills in the aftermath of the 1991 Firestorm. Photo: Richard Misrach Twenty years ago next month, on a sunny Sunday in October, a raging fire took hold and — driven by hot, dry northeasterly winds — swept through the Oakland-Berkeley hills causing massive destruction and loss. The flames jumped two freeways, eventually spreading across […]
Posted inCrime & Safety, Fire
4-alarm fire on Sacramento Street
Citizen reporter Lee Horowitz sent in this photo of fire engines attending to a fire on Sacramento and Cedar at 7:13 p.m. tonight. At 7:24 p.m. Cathryn Hrudicka reported on Twitter that she could see and smell smoke and that there was a helicopter circling overhead. Update, 7:50 p.m.: Berkeleysider Jackson Pritt emailed us the photo […]
Posted inCrime & Safety, Fire
Fire on Berkeley Way between MLK and Grant
Fire on Berkeley Way: Photo Ken Wayne via Twitter A fire has broken out at 1830 Berkeley Way between MLK and Grant Street (according to ActionNews510). Early reports coming in on Twitter suggest it may not be too serious.
