KTVU archives: 10th anniversary of the ’91 Oakland Hills fire
From YouTube Channel: October 20, 2020 at 08:22PM
ONN – KTVU Archives: The 1991 Oakland Hills Fire
The video reported “Today marks 29 years since the deadly Oakland Hills fire. Here’s a look back at KTVU coverage of the 10th anniversary,” but for me, since I was in it, I have something to share, too.
That day of the Oakland Hills Fire was a Sunday morning. I met my friend from Skyline High School days (Class of 1980), Valerie Ostrom, for breakfast at Lynn & Lu’s Escapade Cafe Cafe on Grand Avenue near Elwood. We probably should have went to church, considering what was about to unfold.
We had an outdoor table on a bright, sunny, hot fall morning, and so were direct witness to what was unfolding. A group of people standing in the street, and collectively peering to our left – uphill, on Grand. As I recall, no cars were driving by at that specific time. Because of the way the street curved at that point, we could not see what they were looking at. Once we went out to join them, it became apparent what was happening: a giant-sized smoke plume from the Oakland Hills, and in the general direction of Valerie’s parents home on Proctor Avenue.
So, and because Valerie was concerned about her folk’s dogs (she thought her parents were away from home), we drove up to see about them. As it turned out, it got darker and darker, as we drove, and what started out to be a check-in, turned into an evacuation. I wound up driving Valerie and her parents out of the neighborhood and to another relative’s place – away from their home.
Talk about dark and scary. At one point, I wondered if we would get out of there, because we were also in traffic with others trying to escape. We made it, and thanks to what we then called the police, and now call “first responders”.
That Oakland Hills Fire changed Oakland, dramatically, and forever. It started because someone put out a cigarette in a giant brush and during a heat wave with no cool air to reduce the temperature. It damaged most of the homes in the Upper Broadway Terrace area. But, after some time, the area was rebuilt – but it lacked the woodsy charm of my youth. What it gained was a new set of politically-active Oaklanders, who never had to deal with City Hall, before.
That said, I give credit to The City of Oakland’s satellite permit response effort – something that emerged because so many people received insurance money to rebuild their homes. What came from that marked the area’s appearance today.
Stay tuned.
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