It's the 15th anniversary of the Oakland Hills Fire

[XemaSab]

:cry:

[Hell Hath No Fury]

1. Yeegads I remember that...

I live on a big hill by Candlestick and my living room and bedroom windows look out on the East Bay hills. That fire was incredible, just unbelievable to watch. :( It just looked like the whole East Bay was going to be gobbled up by that fire. There's a good article in the Chron on the neighborhood today -- you can find it at sfgate.com

[yorgatron]

2. now can we get rid of the rest of the damn eucalyptus ?

chop'em all down and plant some native species.

[XemaSab]

3. If you chop them down

They resprout.

You need to ring bark them for permanent death.

[begin_within]

5. The Rancho Santa Fe area of San Diego has many thousands of

eucalyptus, and is one of the most expensive places on Earth to live. It was planted a long time ago as a eucalyptus farm, but it failed, and now it's miles of eucalyptus trees interspersed with some of the most expensive homes in the world (many celebrities and powerful business and political leaders have houses there). One good wildfire will wipe it all out due to the high population of eucalyptus...

[XemaSab]

6. People are stupid about where they live

There are many places in the hills here in Santa Barbara that I would never live in.

[begin_within]

8. I think most of the newer homes there are built with tile roofs and

adobe walls, which are far more fire-resistant, but no home is completely fireproof. The people that live in Rancho Santa Fe are so rich that they probably have their own private firemen to call, and lots of sprinklers on their rooftops. The cataclysmic Cedar Fire of October 2003 scared everyone here so much, that I'm sure a lot of people modified their homes. Still, if a fire gets big enough and fast enough, nothing will stop it. It is often the most expensive homes that are at the highest risk for fire, because they are the ones surrounded by flammable vegetation. Rich people want to be surrounded by nature, not urbanization.

[XemaSab]

9. I know a guy who died in the Hills Fire

and lemme tell ya... I would not live someplace where it would take me more than 5 minutes to WALK to a 2-lane road.

It's a BAD way to go.

[begin_within]

13. In the Cedar fire 3 years ago, people were driving with their cars on fire

I'm still kind of scared because we live on the edge of a canyon in San Diego, and it's possible a fire could come up this canyon. Chaparral is supposed to burn ever 6 years by nature, and this canyon has never had a large fire in the 68 years my family has lived here. There was a small one in the early 1970s, but only one house burned. It is completely ripe for a fire, but fortunately there are roads on both sides, so it woulnd't be too hard for a fire truck to reach the flames. Still, after the Cedar fire, which was like living inside a chimney for 4 days nonstop, I am so spooked that every time I get a whiff of smoke from someone's fireplace or barbecue, I automatically go out to the backyard to make sure it's not a canyon fire...

[petronius]

4. I remember that - I watched it from the 10th floor balcony of Evans Hall

Has it really been 15 years? I must be getting old...

[EFerrari]

14. I was in Wheeler and my best friend who lived in the hills

was scheduled ot take her orals the day the fire broke out.

[Ptah]

7. Tell me more.

Where was this fire?

[XemaSab]

10. In the Oakland Hills

I think your picture pretty much covers all the bases...

Narrow, windy, one-lane roads for miles.

The fire department is going in one direction, the people are going in another, it's going to be a bad scene.

[marzipanni]

11. Friends of ours had just moved from Montclair to So Cal,

they had sold their house to friends. The fire burned right up to the lot next to theirs.
I remember we had our TV tuned to the baseball game at Candlestick, and they panned across the bay showing lots of smoke, and gave a sketchy report of what was going on in the Oakland Hills. Very scary.

[xchrom]

12. and this late season hot weather

REALLY makes you think about it.

i watched the fire in the hills from condo -- i lived right down the hill from it.

[EFerrari]

15. I almost bought one of those condos out by the ampitheater

earlier that same year. Yikes.

In the ten years I lived in Berkeley, we had earthquakes, fires, floods. No locusts, though. :)

[xchrom]

16. lol -- no locusts maybe --

but there was that year i had fleas because of sport and pee-wee and had to have carpet cleaners come in.