Calif. Firefighters Hurt Battling Three-Alarm Blaze
Source Contra Costa Times, Walnut Creek, Calif.
Two homes were heavily damaged Wednesday night by a three-alarm fire in the Berkeley Hills that sent flames and sparks shooting into the night sky.
The fire started about 8:30 p.m. at a home in the 1000 block of Miller Avenue near Keeler Avenue, then spread to a neighboring home.
No residents were injured in the blaze, but three firefighters were injured -- two suffered from heat exhaustion and a third injured a knee. Two of the firefighters were taken to Alta Bates Summit hospital for treatment.
Firefighters had the blaze under control by 10:41 p.m., but the intense fire kept officials scrambling. The third alarm was called at 9:12 p.m., Deputy Fire Chief Gil Dong said, and at that point every available
Berkeley fire unit was responding. Units from the Oakland and Alameda fire departments also responded, while units from Alameda County Fire helped cover the rest of the city, Dong said.
One neighbor stood on his deck with a water hose and warily watched the growing flames.
"I swear these guys saved the whole hillside," said Toby McLeod, who lives on Grizzly Peak, just above the homes that burned.
Flames stretched up 50 to 60 feet, McLeod said, and sparks shot up even higher -- at least 150 feet into the air -- and swirled around redwood trees. Luckily, he said, the night was fairly windless, helping firefighters keep the blaze in check.
Several neighboring homes were evacuated during the fire, and at one point, Berkeley
firefighters had to seek an alternate water source after a power line fell on one of their trucks, putting it temporarily out of commission.
Fire investigators were to remain at the scene throughout the night searching for a cause and checking for hot spots, Dong said. A damage estimate was not immediately available, but Dong said a combined six residents of the homes -- at 1005 and 1007 Miller Ave. -- were displaced.
Staff writer Kristin J. Bender and staff photographer D. Ross Cameron contributed to this report.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
