What Caused the 1991 Fire (Part II)

APRIL zoog
I IILLS CONSERVATIOI\ NET\X,ORK
Pan I of PeterScott'sarticle
on the l99l Oakland-Berkeley
hills fire appearsin the Hills
ConservationNetwork
Newsletterfor March. Part I
was a detailedaccountof the
fire. To readit, click on:
[{CNnewsletterS.pdf
Third, whenit comesto our life,
familv
'-""'J
and
nronerfv
tn each
- - is
- _ ' rrn
--'r'r-- J 7 it
-r_
r-
of us to do our homework, and not
he fnlren
Berkeleyhitrls
and
The fundamental false claim about Washburn's
relatesto
observation
.,.1"^+ L^--^-^,1
wrr4l rr4FPvuvu
:- +L^ plv4uw4J
D-^-,{"'^"
ur rllw
beginningto end,a "firestorm,"
Terracefae of 2007.In that fire,
which wasprobablyignitedby al
nafural event - such as an
arsonist,the densebrushundera
groveof eucalyptus
carutquaKc ur llSlrullflg strlKg tnar
burired
was unavoidable
andunstoppable. ferociously.Theeucsweresinged,
But thatpresumption
requircda
but they
andthe leaves<iiscoloreci,
culprit in nature.If that culprit could did not ignite.Recentcontrolled
by East
be arrestedor eradicated,the horror burnsbeneaiheucalyptus
of the fire mightnot recur.Blaming Bay RegionalParkscrewsin
eucalyptustreesfor the fre came
CiaremontCanyondisplayedsimilar
easilyto thosewho hadalways
resistance
to ignition.
dislikedthetall, colortbl"exotic-"
They believedthat finally theyhad
an opportunityto eradicateit.
:*^l-,:..
Whst csused
the 1991
Oakland-
nlaimc
+L^ tol €,,,^-d.^+:+,,,^^
+^*
trtw 7 t lrrw w4o llr4t I vv@t rlvllr
iluprlrrrB
Part2 of PeterScott'sarticle,
rvhich appeaxsbelow,focuses
on the causesofthe fire.
in hri falce
misinformation.
". . . althoughthetreeswere
smoldering,
theywerenotflaring.
They continuedto do so all day and
into the night. For unknovvnreasons,
theyneverreallyburned."
- -. rr-
^
:+ --,-^
lL wilt
-.--.-1--.
-..
l:
^-
..-^^-+-^tt^Ll^
ant urrurrlrrlurraulE
-l-a.-:--
-
-L
- 1 1 . .-
Lr- -L
The eucalyptuswereaccused,and
tarredwith all mannerof dangerous
characteristics.
Thepress,playing
on
irrational
fears
and loatheto
h.t Dolar
S^^#t
vY
I UtVt
Ulutl
indict the fire deparhnentfor its
obviouslapses.washappvto repeat
What have we learned from the
andreinforcetheeucaphobic
myths
tragedyof the 1991fire?As
'l-['.o
offeredby native-plant
oFtor^nth
^f tho
r^^.
R"
orLoort
residentsof the North Hills urbanrestorationists.
Theirgoal,long
Terrace Fire, where not one euc
wildland interface, we know there
beforethe fire, hadbeento
will be more red flag days and
transformthe landscapeto the
probably another catastrophic fire in
srassvslonesthathadcoveredthe
our lifetime.
hills beforeroadsandhomeswere
Of course,thereis a pointwhere
hrrilf hcre
an1'thingandevery4hing
rvill burn,
First, we have learnedthat, in a
thatwhen
andit is well documented
major disaster,we cannot dependon
It is interestingthat, in Patricia
a eucis heatedto its flashpoint,it
the fire, police or any other
will outgasandsuddenlyflare,but
Adler's book Fire in the Hills, a
emergency department to protect us ^ ^ l l ^ ^ + : ^ *
^f
,fi
€-+
L--,t
Lullvvllull
ut T7
lll Dl-llalu
that ignitionpointcomcswcll aftcr
or to come to our rescue.To a large
experiences
ofthe'91 fire,
fire hastotally engulfedother
degree. we must anticipate what
nt
>2,
truuaryptus
ut
tis
species.
To pruvethisyourself,add
l_ruuilslrtru
might happenand do our best to
are rarely mentioned, no more
a eucalyptuslog to your next
provide for our own safetv.
irequeni.iyihan oiher kee species
firepiaceire, andwitnesshow
that burned in the fire. The most
frustratinglylong it takesthething
Secondl,v,a*seitizens,we mr,rst
moving and reaiisiic piece in ihe
to ignite.Fiammabieoii in the
demand (and be willing to pay for)
book is Stan Washburn'sdescription leaves?
The leavesofseveraltree
edenrrafe end comnetent
fire nnlir:e
- bays,for instanceof his battie to savethe Coiiege Prep species
and emergencyservicesthat are
School, a campusof wood buildings containoil, but koalaslive
nrn'Fecsinnallrr
manqapd
frainprl
in a hollow surroundedby
leaves
exciusivelyon euealyptus
equipped,andresponsive
to the
eucalyptus
The
trees.
fire
raged
and
because
leaves
also
50olo
the
are
^^-*'.-i+.'
bumed most of the housesadjacent water.
fire?
Part2
-^--Lli^L^J
-'-
an^
^__*^l
to the CPS campus,but he records,
PAGET
I IILLS CONSERVATION NITWORK
/
APRIL zoog
In the pressandin the convenfional proposed as ideal by nativists
wisdom,eucalyptuswere
producesflame lengths up to three
condemned
asthe scapegoat
for the times longer than a mature euc
'91
"firestorm,"but the true facts
forest. AIso, a native plant
ars: eucswerenowherenearthe
landscape qfoaks, chapanal, and
ignition of the fire; althoughthey
grass has afaster rate ofburn and
tesistediggrition,manyof them
higher igTtitionpotential when thev
ultimatelybecameinvolvedin the
dry out, which happenseveryyear
fire just like everyotherspecies.
at the height ofourfire sedson.
Even so, many handsome,mafure
eucssurvivedthe fire, and sfill stand Eucs are accusedof creating
whereeverythingelsetotally
excessive litter in the understory;
burned.
yet the maintenancecycle
Butwait a minute: Whatil in
SeptemberT923,the BerkeleyFire
Departmenthadnot beenso
stubbornandnaivethat it waited
until the Tildenfire crossedthe
Berkeleycity line beforeit
connected
the hoses?586homeson
the northsideBerkeleyhills might
still bethere.Whatif, in 1970,the
arsonistthat stoppedin broad
elaylighton Fish RanchRoadhad
beencaughtbeforehe setthe fne?
Thirty sevenhomesaround
recommendedfor eucs is the same
MarlboroughTerracemight have
ac fnr n rnivcrl hnrdrvnnd
fnrccf
Following the fire, the State's
surrived.Whatif, on a Sunday
Oflice of EmergencyServices
Eucsareaccusedof flinging
morningin October1991,the crews
issuedan extensivehistcry of the
firebrandsor embers("spotting"),as of Engines19and24hadrvetdorvn
fire, detailing its ignition and
if other vegetationdon't do the
the entireareaofthe Saturdayfire D"'--1.'^t".^ia
a^r
.^-I\.f,, L^.,.^
L.,*-J
:- tO1 ^- +1,^
gr
vtSr
woor
Dqwqaytaw
9
tav,
J
4
r
r
r
w
r
l
v
l
y
t
r
v
u
D
w
r
t
w
u
v
g
t
t
t
t
7
I
6
u
l
w
asthey had bcenorderedto do l/f
mentionedin that report.
resultof spottingprojectedfrom
beforethey left the scene?Captain
^^t-^L^-^--^t
^-J
--^-Subsequently;
the llills Eniergeiicy u.lAs,
urrillri'.rri''r
itrlu Britt!.
Riiey and21 othervictimsof tho
'91 fire might be alive todayandwe
Forum (IIER a consortiumof
agenciesincludingUC, EBRPDand
who surv'ivedthe tragedyurigirt
OFD) was organized,primarity to
havebeenspareda tenibletrauma.
addresSfire-risk mitigation in the
urban-wildlandinterfacealong the
Nearly all fires in the wild are
EastBay hills. However,groups
startedby lighming strikes,but
and individualswhoseprimary
nearlyall fires in the interfaceare
missionwas"forestconversion"causedby humans.(Tive hills fires
in theory,replacement
of all
since1946werearsonfires.)The
"exotic'"vegetationwith "native
tri6k is to intercedein human
joined F{EFand
plantsandtrees,o'
activityto preventignition;without
usedthe organizationto advance
ignitiontherewill be no fire. Here
their interest in the nameof fuel
area few of manywaysto prevent
reductionor vegetation
ignition:installwiresunderground,
management.The firefi ghting
clearedgesofroadsof flammable
agencieswithin FIEFendorsedthe
material,build low stonewalls
goalof fuel reduction,andthe
alongtheroads,closecertainroads
outcomehasbeenseverallarge
andhiking pathson red flag days,
projectsin the hills focusedon
educatecontractorsandraisepublic
eradicatingpines,acaciasand
awareness
aboutsourcesof ignition,
eucaly,otus.
get seriousaboutarson,instifutefire
patrols,arrestanyonecaught
Eucsweresinged,
butdidn'tignite.
As this synergistic.
move.ment
rolled
smokingin thehills on redtlag
It is saidthatfires in our urbanforward overthe years,no one
days.
wildfire interfaceareinevitable,that
stoppedto questionwhetherthe
it is only a questionof whenthe
vegetationthat would replacethe
In short therearemanythings we
"exotics"would be moreflammable next conflagrationwill occtrr. The
cando to preventfires that aren't
firesin 1923,1970andl99l are
than the vegetationthat had been
beingdone.The hyper-focuson fuel
referencedasevidencethat everyso reductionandthe debateover
desffoyed.Infact,thereis no
nranyyears,na'rurearrdihe godswill nativesvs exoiicsdivertsattention
scientificevidencethat a "naiive"
conspireto sendan infernodown
plant community is morefircmdfunds from moreeffectiveand
uponus.
resistant.The oak, chaparrai anti
significantfire prevention.
grasslandscapethat isfrequently
PA(;E 6
I IILLS CONSE,R\'ATION NETV'ORK
APRIL zoog
metalsso the capson the hydrantoutletsfroze in place
(anerrorncr','fixed).Ho','Jever,
Fire
Oaktrand's
Department
radiosstill cannottalk to Berkeley's,and
thc firc dcpaiimcnt'sradioscannctcommunicate
with
the policedepartment's
radiosbecause
theyareon
I:ft'^-^-+
urrl(;ruut
4-^---^-^:^^
rrt'qulilrt;rtit.
T^
+L:^
J^-,
aL^^^
^r^-.:^..^
I u u l l s u a y , L r t E b Eu u v l u u s
^-J
drr(l
solvableissues- whish couldmeanlife or deathin a
clirnate-tiriveiv'wind-driven
fire - havenot been
addressed.
Anotherexample:In a conflagration,we desperately
needfire-fightingcapabiiityfrom the air. Our fire
s€asonlastsat leastthroughthe endof October.Yet
CDF's(CaliforniaDepartmentof Foresty anciFire
Protection,now "Cal Fire") contractswith pilotsexpire
Aerialbombardmentof the'9r fire.
in mid-October;at thattime,the aircraftreturnto theii
winter
basein Sacramento.
How difficult canit be to
In history, one of the ftrndamental reasonspeople
change
those
contracts
so
that
they arein forceuntil the
gatheredtogether in towns and cities was to gain greater
middle
ofNovember?
safety.Together,and by meansof intelligent
government,they could addressthe risks that
individuals could not deal with on their own. Police and
fire departmentsbecamepart of that social contract;
citizens are entitled to expect a level of competence on
the part of the agencieswhosejob is to shield us from
harm.
What causedthe fire? The shortandsimpleansweris:
ignition.Ignitionby humans.
Themoresophisticated
answergoesoffin all directions,but the coretheme
relatesto humanfailures:poorresponse
time,
inadequatewater,mismanagement
of fire-fighting
resounces,
failure of communication,inadequate
training
and
equipmentand so on. Thereis muchto do
On tlre other hand, the leadersof those agenciesare
- andmucheachof us cando - if we realisticallv
entitled to expect that the citizenry will adequately fund
their effort so that they can fulfill their missions. When expectto avoidthe failuresofpast fires.
we explore the causesof the fire lve must acknowledge
that a threadbare fire department is dangerously
handicapped.Three firefighters per engine is not a good
idea. The fact that 80 percentof the calls to the fire
department are medical emergenciesdoes not appear to
be a wise allocation of resources.If the community is
serious about reducing the risk of fire, the community
must supporq and be willing to pay for, effective fuefishting agencies.
After the 1970 Marlborough Tenace fire, the Alameda
County Grand Jury investigatedthe incident and
advised the Oakland Fire Departmentto do three things:
tix their dysfunctional radio system,undergroundthe
wires powering the reservoir pumps, and modifu the
hydrants so that mutual aid firefighters could connect
their hoses.By 1991,a generation laten noneof those
three critical tasks had been accomplished,and all three
becamemajor factors in the October fire.
Again the Grand Jury investigatcd, and again n 1994
it told the OFD to do the samethree things. Yet several
years passedbefore OFD finally retrofitted the
hydrants, and then they mistakenly useddissimilar
As Dr. JonKeeley,the leadingexpertin urban-wildland
interfacefires,hasexplainedto thosewho would listen,
it matterslittle how manyfieestherearein thehills, or
whatspeciestheyare;if theconditionsareright and
igrition occurs,a dangerous
fire will comeroaring
towardour homes.
PeterScott,architect,nativeof Berkeley,
watereddownhis houseas the l970fire
approached.Thel99l fire destroyedthe
place, but it wastheftrst homein tlre hills to
be rebuilt. Scottinstigatedthe Grandfitry
investigationof the '91fire, ondjoined the
first COREtraining, thenserved13years on
the COREtaskforce-He lobbiedfor md
designedFhe Statian 7 in the hills. Ile is a
foundingmemberof the Hills Conservdion
l{etwork urd ca-cluir of theNHPA|
vegetationmcmagement
committee.
P AGE: