Dear Friends and Neighbors,

    This edition of my newsletter is dedicated to Fire Safety and how we can protect ourselves and each other from the severe threat of wild fire that we face in the Berkeley hills this drought season.

    With record low rainfall, the grass and brush across California is tinder dry and ready to burn.  Between January 1 and April 26, CAL FIRE responded to approximately 1,100 wildfires that charred nearly 2,500 acres.  In an average year for the same time period, CAL FIRE would typically respond to fewer than 500 wildfires for just over 1,300 acres. 

     A wild fire does not respect property lines or city boundaries.  As a region, we all must work together, share our resources, and coordinate our strategies for remaining safe.  With this idea in mind, I requested that Berkeley Fire Chief Gil Dong assemble a panel representing our neighbors: East Bay Regional Parks, Berkeley Lab, UC Berkeley, and others to address concerns about wild fire and to discuss strategies for diminishing our risks and improving our safety.  On Monday, June 2nd we will have an unprecedented opportunity for us to learn about what is being done around us and how fire officials are coordinating their efforts.

    Although more than twenty years have passed, I am still haunted by vivid memories of the Oakland hills fire in 1991.  Twenty-five people died, 150 people were injured, and more than three thousand homes were destroyed.  If you do not remember that horrendous fire, you can watch a video here.

    I wasn't around in 1923, but that year, the fire in North Berkeley destroyed more than 600 homes and left more than 1,000 UC students homeless.  You can see old newsreel footage here.

    We are currently very ripe for another conflagration.  CAL FIRE has rated Berkeley as "extremely severe" in terms of our vulnerability.  We need to face the facts and if we each do our part, we will have a better chance of protecting ourselves and our property from the ravages of a wild fire.  The City of Berkeley has services which are designed to help us.  The chipper and bin debris program encourage us to reduce the vegetation around our homes.  The Fire Department also conducts inspections.  If you are aware of a property that presents a hazard to you and your neighborhood, please call my office at 981-7160.  With an address and a description of the problem, I will request an inspection by the Fire Department.

Best Regards,

Susan Wengraf

Included in this newsletter in information about:

• Fire danger forum 
• Berkeley Hills Fire Hazard 
• Chipper program 
• Wildfire preparedness 

Fire Danger Forum 

CONCERNED ABOUT FIRE SAFETY?

YOU SHOULD BE!

Come to a comprehensive regional forum about fire prevention activities in very dangerous drought conditions in the East Bay hills

Monday, June 2, 7:30pm

Northbrae Church, 941 The Alameda

City of Berkeley Fire Department

Gil Dong, Fire Chief

Aaron Lee, Deputy Chief / Fire Marshal

Cal Fire

Robert Chew, Assistant Chief - East Bay Operations

Mike Martin, Battalion Chief

University of California - Berkeley

Sal Genito, Associate Director of Grounds and Environmental Services

East Bay Regional Parks District

Brad Gallup, Captain

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Allen Benitez, Chief of Protective Services

Geoffrey Aus, Fire Marshal

    This forum is an unprecedented opportunity to hear about strategies from all of our institutional and governmental neighbors about their efforts to protect us from a wildfire in extremely dry and dangerous drought conditions.   After presentations, there will be time for questions and discussion.  City of Berkeley Fire Department will be on hand to discuss ways for residents to minimize danger;  notification systems;  escape routes, etc.

Sponsored by:  Councilmember Susan Wengraf - Berkeley Fire Department - Neighbors for Fire Safety

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