The city will hold a meeting Wednesday to introduce its plan to protect the community from increasingly destructive wildfires and garner resident feedback.
Wildfires
Posted inFire
How do you prepare for wildfires in Berkeley? Get answers in our guide
We’ve updated our Berkeley Wildfire Guide with preparation advice, evacuation guidance, and answers to your questions about air quality, power outages, and property defense.
Posted inCommunity
Cut, trim, pave! Crackdown on vegetation near homes in fire zones is coming
Berkeley Hills residents will soon be required to have a 5-foot ember-resistant zone around their homes. The state is getting more serious about its defensible space laws for fire prevention.
Posted inCity
Fire season is underway: Here’s what’s new in Berkeley this year
“We know we have big challenges ahead,” Berkeley Fire Chief Abe Roman said recently. “We all have to adapt to this new normal.”
Posted inCity
Berkeley’s tree removal aims to ‘set an example’ for wildfire management
The city has cut down nearly 300 trees, mostly eucalyptus and Monterey pine, since 2019 and is now ramping up defensible space inspections of private property in high-fire areas.
Posted inCity
Photos: See inside the rebuilt Berkeley Tuolumne Camp
The new camp, which welcomes families back this summer, was built to be more accessible and better protected from wildfire.
Posted inCity
Rebuilt Berkeley Tuolumne Camp to welcome families back this summer
The rebuilt camp outside Yosemite National Park will reopen in June, nine years after it was destroyed in a wildfire.
Posted inCity
Worried about wildfires, City Council limits number of ADUs in Berkeley Hills
Critics say the move won’t make the Berkeley Hills safer during a wildfire, but will block new housing from wealthy neighborhoods.
Posted inCrime & Safety
No, wildfire season in Berkeley isn’t necessarily over yet
This month’s rains helped tamper down fire danger, but experts say the East Bay is not out of the woods yet.
Posted inCity
City grapples with housing crisis, fire danger as it writes rules for ADUs in hills
New state laws require swift approval for many ADU projects. Should those rules be more strict in areas facing wildfire risk?
Posted inCommunity
First Person: I worked 36 straight hours at the Alta Bates burn center during the Oakland-Berkeley Firestorm
Thomas Appleton writes about how Alta Bates staff treated dozens of burned patients while watching the fire approach the hospital.
Posted inCity
Listen: Remembering the 1991 Oakland-Berkeley Firestorm
To mark the fire’s 30th anniversary, we produced a 30-minute podcast looking back at the historic blaze that forever changed how the East Bay looks at wildfires.