Calmer weather helps contain Oakland, California, fire that forced evacuations
Firefighting crews took advantage of calmer weather Sunday to increase containment of a small wildfire in Oakland, California, that burned two homes
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Firefighting crews took advantage of calmer weather Sunday to increase containment of a small wildfire in Oakland, California, that burned two homes and forced more than 500 people to evacuate.
Most residents were allowed to return home Saturday but a handful of evacuation orders remained in effect for a hillside neighborhood where firefighters were still dousing hotspots.
“We don’t want to assume that it’s out and come back and it’s sparked again,” Oakland Fire Chief Damon Covington said during a Saturday evening briefing.
The blaze was 70% contained Sunday morning.
Flames erupted Friday afternoon and were fed by a major “ diablo wind ” — notorious in autumn for its hot, dry gusts — that spiked the risk of wildfire across Northern California. Red flag warnings for increased fire danger expired Saturday and conditions eased further throughout the weekend.
The cause of the fire was not immediately known.
The blaze burned a day before the Oct. 19 anniversary of a 1991 fire in the Oakland Hills that destroyed nearly 3,000 homes and killed 25 people.