On Sunday, Oct. 20, 1991, a wind-driven fire tore through the Oakland and Berkeley hills, killing 25 people and injuring 150. Cal Fire calls it the Tunnel Fire. This month marked 35 years since the fire. In his report on the fire, Garcia called it the worst U.S. fire for loss of life and property since San Francisco's 1906 earthquake and fire.

How it started

A grass fire broke out Saturday, Oct. 19, on a steep hillside northeast of the Highway 24 and 13 interchange, near the Caldecott Tunnel. Firefighters thought it was under control that night. The U.S. Fire Administration found the cause of the first fire was undetermined.

Shortly before 11 a.m. Sunday, while crews were still on scene overhauling hot spots, the fire rekindled. Hot, dry northeasterly Diablo winds, with gusts up to about 65 mph, drove it southwest through highly flammable vegetation. The USFA noted the hills were especially vulnerable after five years of drought and several months without recorded rain.

How fast it moved

Chief Reginald J. Garcia of the Oakland Fire Department wrote that the wind pushed the fire into the Hiller Highlands neighborhood and burned through homes, vegetation and cars in sixteen minutes. Oakland Fire Battalion Chief James Riley and Oakland Police Officer John Grubensky were killed while trying to help residents escape.

The toll

  • Deaths: 25, with 150 injured
  • Structures: 3,354 destroyed, according to the USFA. Wikipedia's count is 2,843 single-family homes and 437 apartment and condo units.
  • Area: about 1,520 acres (the USFA rounds to 1,500)
  • Damage: about $1.5 billion in 1991 dollars
  • Response: 440 engine companies and more than 1,500 firefighters, the largest response ever recorded at the time, per the USFA

Lessons learned

Garcia's report pointed to problems that slowed the fight. Many mutual-aid engines couldn't connect to Oakland hydrants because they used 2.5-inch hose couplings and Oakland used 3-inch. Older hill neighborhoods had small water mains, and radio channels were overloaded. The USFA also found that a shortage of command officers hampered the early incident command system.

Read more East Bay disaster history: the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.