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76-451: The Claremont Canyon Conservancy (Conservancy) grew out of a citizen-based task force formed following the devastating 1991 Oakland Berkeley Firestorm , which burned through parts of Claremont Canyon destroying homes and wildlands. Expanding quickly to 500 member-households after its founding in 2001, the Conservancy continues to retain a high level of community support. In the early 2000s,

152-463: A shellmound , now mostly leveled and covered up, along the shoreline of San Francisco Bay at the mouth of Strawberry Creek . Human remains and skeletons from Native American burials have been unearthed in West Berkeley and on campus alongside Strawberry Creek . Other artifacts were discovered in the 1950s in the downtown area during remodeling of a commercial building, near the upper course of

228-596: A base at the Naval Air Station in Alameda . Additionally, the Naval Air Station itself sent its own firefighting equipment and material to the scene of the fire. The next morning, before full control had been gained, satellite photographs, especially infrared (heat-sensing) photographs, were provided with the help of NASA Ames Research Center 's Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (DART) to aid firefighters in plotting

304-468: A brief in 2021 requesting more specific language that would ensure wildfire mitigation through removal of large stands of eucalyptus. The Conservancy’s brief was filed in opposition to another group who had filed to minimize large tree removal, claiming concerns about visual impacts and use of herbicides. In working with the landowners and other entities in the East Bay Hills, the Conservancy spearheaded

380-488: A brush fire shortly before 11:00   a.m. on Sunday, October   20, and rapidly spread southwest, driven by wind gusts up to 65 mi (100 km) per hour. It quickly overwhelmed local and regional firefighting resources. By 11:30 a.m., the fire had spread to the nearby Parkwoods Apartments located next to the Caldecott Tunnel. Shortly before noon, the fire had been blown up to the top of Hiller Highlands to

456-509: A collaboration with the State of California that culminated in 1868 with the creation of the public University of California . As construction began on the new site, more residences were constructed in the vicinity of the new campus. At the same time, a settlement of residences, saloons, and various industries grew around the wharf area called Ocean View . A horsecar ran from Temescal in Oakland to

532-672: A halt. Facing rising housing costs, residents voted to enact rent control and vacancy control in 1980. Though more far-reaching in their effect than those of some of the other jurisdictions in California that chose to use rent control where they could, these policies were limited by the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act , a statewide ban on rent control that came into effect in 1995 and limited rent control to multi-family units that were built (or technically buildings that were issued their original certificate of occupation) before

608-494: A major conflagration nearby in the 1923 Berkeley fire and a more limited conflagration in the same area on September   22, 1970, again under similar conditions. A smaller fire also started in Wildcat Canyon on December   14, 1980. As night descended, the firestorm threatened to destroy the historic Claremont Resort hotel, where the media had gathered to report on the fire. Television crews trained their cameras on

684-517: A modest system of trails . Future work anticipated includes the monitoring of sudden oak death and the planting of native live oak seedlings, where needed. From time to time the Conservancy sponsors free nature walks on a variety of subjects. The Conservancy’s annual open public meetings held each November provide a forum for both experts and public officials alike to discuss ways to support a healthy ecosystem and promote wildfire safety. Oakland firestorm of 1991 The Oakland firestorm of 1991

760-581: A movement in 2021 to create a region-wide approach to wildfire safety. Calling itself the East Bay Hills Wildfire Prevention and Vegetation Management Coordination Group , this grassroots movement promotes coordination among stakeholders throughout the East Bay Hills to develop a unified approach to reducing wildfire threat. In addition to wildfire advocacy, the Conservancy provides hands-on volunteer work sessions to remove invasive plant species, such as French broom, and to build and maintain

836-468: A sample of more than 3,000 structures that burned in a known accidental fire. A group of fire investigators surveyed the residences and looked for artifacts that would normally be considered "suspicious," such as melted metals, spalled concrete and crazed glass. A careful study of 50 of the homes revealed that most of them contained artifacts that would be considered evidence of arson had they been found in an isolated fire that burned to completion. The study

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912-694: A small, though busy, wharf by the bay. In 1866, Oakland's private College of California looked for a new site. It settled on a location north of Oakland along the foot of the Contra Costa Range (later called the Berkeley Hills) on Strawberry Creek , at an elevation of about 500 feet (150 m) above the bay, commanding a view of the Bay Area and the Pacific Ocean through the Golden Gate . According to

988-467: A statewide referendum that proposed moving the California state capital to Berkeley was defeated by a margin of about 33,000 votes. The city had named streets around the proposed capitol grounds for California counties. They bear those names today, a legacy of the failed referendum. On March 4, 1909, following public referendums, the citizens of Berkeley were granted a new charter by the State of California, and

1064-475: A vast stretch of land on the east shore of San Francisco Bay (the contra costa , "opposite shore") for a ranch, including that portion that now comprises the City of Berkeley. Luis Peralta named his holding " Rancho San Antonio ." The primary activity of the ranch was raising cattle for meat and hides, but hunting and farming were also pursued. Eventually, Peralta gave portions of the ranch to each of his four sons. What

1140-422: Is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County , California , United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley . It borders the cities of Oakland and Emeryville to the south and the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington to the north. Its eastern border with Contra Costa County generally follows

1216-608: Is now Berkeley lies mostly in the portion that went to Peralta's son Domingo , with a little in the portion that went to another son, Vicente. No artifact survives of the Domingo or Vicente ranches, but their names survive in Berkeley street names (Vicente, Domingo, and Peralta). However, legal title to all land in the City of Berkeley remains based on the original Peralta land grant. The Peraltas' Rancho San Antonio continued after Alta California passed from Spanish to Mexican sovereignty after

1292-714: The Berkeley Oak Grove Protest began protesting construction of a new sports center annex to Memorial Stadium at the expense of a grove of oak trees on the UC campus. The protest ended in September 2008 after a lengthy court process. In 2007–2008, Berkeley received media attention due to demonstrations against a Marine Corps recruiting office in downtown Berkeley and a series of controversial motions by Berkeley's city council regarding opposition to Marine recruiting. ( See Berkeley Marine Corps Recruiting Center controversy .) During

1368-654: The Centennial Record of the University of California , "In 1866, at Founders' Rock , a group of College of California men watched two ships standing out to sea through the Golden Gate. One of them, Frederick Billings , thought of the lines of the Anglo-Irish Anglican Bishop George Berkeley , 'westward the course of empire takes its way,' and suggested that the town and college site be named for

1444-642: The Library of Congress website. Berkeley's slow growth ended abruptly with the Great San Francisco earthquake of 1906 . The town and other parts of the East Bay escaped serious damage, and thousands of refugees flowed across the Bay. Among them were most of San Francisco's painters and sculptors, who between 1907 and 1911 created one of the largest art colonies west of Chicago. Artist and critic Jennie V. Cannon described

1520-713: The Mexican War of Independence . However, the advent of U.S. sovereignty after the Mexican–American War , and especially, the Gold Rush , saw the Peraltas' lands quickly encroached on by squatters and diminished by dubious legal proceedings. The lands of the brothers Domingo and Vicente were quickly reduced to reservations close to their respective ranch homes. The rest of the land was surveyed and parceled out to various American claimants ( See Kellersberger's Map ). Politically,

1596-614: The Nevada state line were delayed initially. Official reports differ between when the Oakland Fire Department made requests, and when the state Department of Forestry and Fire Protection was asked to mobilize air tanker support to the fire zone. Eventually the California Department of Forestry (CDF) was asked to dispatch several air tankers , which doused the fire with tons of fire retardant all day long. The CDF established

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1672-507: The Vietnam Day Committee . Berkeley is strongly identified with the rapid social changes, civic unrest, and political upheaval that characterized the mid-to-late 1960s. In that period, Berkeley—especially Telegraph Avenue —became a focal point for the hippie movement, which spilled over the Bay from San Francisco. Many hippies were apolitical drop-outs, rather than students, but in the heady atmosphere of Berkeley in 1967–1969 there

1748-505: The wildland–urban interface . The fire validated that the efforts undertaken by CARD (Collaborating Agencies Responding to Disasters) after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, to build a nonprofit preparedness infrastructure, were key to addressing the needs of vulnerable communities. In response to issues about firefighting equipment during the disaster, Oakland city firefighters now carry more extensive wildland firefighting gear and fire shelters. Prior to and during this firestorm, when this

1824-402: The 1880s Berkeley had segregated housing and anti-Chinese laws. The area near the university became known for a time as East Berkeley. Due to the influence of the university, the modern age came quickly to Berkeley. Electric lights and the telephone were in use by 1888. Electric streetcars soon replaced the horsecar . A silent film of one of these early streetcars in Berkeley can be seen at

1900-428: The 3-inch (76 mm) outlets previously used by Oakland were considerably more efficient. Water cisterns and a new hills fire station were added, and radio communications were improved. On June 12, 2008, a brush fire ignited in almost the exact location of the starting point of the 1991 fire, but owing to a rapid response, the preventive measures implemented after the 1991 disaster, and the lack of significant winds,

1976-497: The Conservancy, in cooperation with the University of California (UC) led a reforestation program to plant thousands of coastal redwoods in a 70-acre area where UC had removed old stands of eucalyptus (E. globulus) for wildfire hazard mitigation on its land. "Redwood trees are a powerful, emotional symbol of coastal California," said the late Joe Engbeck , former vice president of the Claremont Canyon Conservancy and

2052-592: The Forest Park neighborhood on the northwest edge of the Montclair district and in the upper Rockridge neighborhood . The fire eventually touched the edge of Piedmont , burning some municipal property, but the buildings and houses were spared. The hot, dry northeasterly winds, dubbed as " Diablo winds " in reference to the Diablo mountain range , Diablo Valley , and surrounding geography of same name, periodically occur during

2128-455: The Oakland water system. Outside fire teams faced various equipment compatibility issues such as hydrants having the wrong size outlets for the hoses used by neighboring counties. Oakland was also not able to communicate with many mutual aid resources due to antiquated equipment and lack of access to statewide radio frequencies brought on by the budget restrictions in the preceding years. In some areas, firefighters simply ran out of water, as there

2204-939: The Police Department to avoid escalation of violence and to protect bystanders during protests. During a protest against bigotry and U.S. President Donald Trump in August 2017, self-described anti-fascist protesters attacked Trump supporters in attendance. Police intervened, arresting 14 people. Sometimes called " antifa ", these ‘anti-fascist’ activists were clad in black shirts and other black attire, while some carried shields and others had masks or bandanas hiding their faces to help them evade capture after street fighting. . These protests spanned February to September 2017 (See more at 2017 Berkeley Protests ). In 2019, protesters took up residence in People's Park against tree-chopping and were arrested by police in riot gear. Many activists saw this as

2280-514: The Town of Berkeley became the City of Berkeley. Rapid growth continued up to the Crash of 1929 . The Great Depression hit Berkeley hard, but not as hard as many other places in the U.S., thanks in part to the university. In 1916, Berkeley implemented single-family zoning as an effort to keep minorities out of white neighborhoods. This has been described as the first implementation of single-family zoning in

2356-434: The U.C. campus began to build up to the recognizable activism of the sixties. In the 1950s, McCarthyism induced the university to demand a loyalty oath from its professors, many of whom refused to sign the oath on the principle of freedom of thought. In 1960, a U.S. House committee ( HUAC ) came to San Francisco to investigate the influence of communists in the Bay Area. Their presence was met by protesters, including many from

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2432-644: The U.S. was started by the Ecology Center in 1973. Styrofoam was banned in 1988. As the city leaned more and more Democratic, local politics became divided between "Progressives" and "Moderates". 1984 saw the Progressives take the majority for the first time. Nancy Skinner became the first UC Berkeley student elected to City Council. In 1986, in reaction to the 1984 election, a ballot measure switched Berkeley from at-large to district-based elections for city council. In 1983, Berkeley's Domestic Partner Task Force

2508-470: The United States By 2021, nearly half of Berkeley's residential neighborhoods were still exclusively zoned for single-family homes. On September 17, 1923, a major fire swept down the hills toward the university campus and the downtown section. Around 640 structures burned before a late-afternoon sea breeze stopped its progress, allowing firefighters to put it out. The next big growth occurred with

2584-602: The University of California and a high-demand housing market, Berkeley was relatively unaffected by the Great Recession . State budget cuts caused the university to increase the number of out-of-state and international students, with international enrollment, mostly from Asia, rising from 2,785 in 2007 to 5,951 in 2016. Since then, more international restaurants have opened downtown and on Telegraph Avenue , including East Asian chains such as Ippudo and Daiso . A wave of downtown apartment construction began in 1998. In 2006,

2660-415: The advent of World War II , when large numbers of people moved to the Bay Area to work in the many war industries, such as the immense Kaiser Shipyards in nearby Richmond . One who moved out, but played a big role in the outcome of the war, was U.C. professor and Berkeley resident J. Robert Oppenheimer . During the war, an Army base, Camp Ashby , was temporarily sited in Berkeley. The element berkelium

2736-425: The area that became Berkeley was initially part of a vast Contra Costa County . On March 25, 1853, Alameda County was created from a division of Contra Costa County, as well as from a small portion of Santa Clara County . The area that became Berkeley was then the northern part of the "Oakland Township" subdivision of Alameda County. During this period, "Berkeley" was mostly a mix of open land, farms, and ranches, with

2812-626: The city near the university and downtown. Increasing enrollment also led the university to wanting to redevelop certain places of Berkeley, especially Southside, but more specifically People's Park. Preservationists passed the Neighborhood Protection Ordinance in 1973 by ballot measure and the Landmarks Preservation Ordinance in 1974 by the City Council. Together, these ordinances brought most new construction to

2888-676: The creek. The first people of European descent (most of whom were of mixed race and born in America ) arrived with the De Anza Expedition in 1776. The De Anza Expedition led to establishment of the Spanish Presidio of San Francisco at the entrance to San Francisco Bay (the " Golden Gate )." Luis Peralta was among the soldiers at the Presidio. For his services to the King of Spain , he was granted

2964-449: The dangers of alcohol. On April 1, 1878, the people of Ocean View and the area around the university campus, together with local farmers, were granted incorporation by the State of California as the Town of Berkeley. The first elected trustees of the town were the slate of Denis Kearney 's anti-Chinese Workingman's Party , who were particularly favored in the working-class area of the former Ocean View, now called West Berkeley. During

3040-463: The dark hill immediately behind the hotel and millions watched as the fire slowly marched house by house toward the evacuated hotel. The fire was stopped shortly before it reached the hotel. By 5:00   p.m., the winds died down, giving firefighters a chance to control the blaze, though full containment would not be achieved until October   22. As many as 400   engine companies, 1,500   personnel, and 250   agencies worked to put out

3116-687: The early fall season. These are similar to the Santa Ana winds in Southern California, and have been the cause of numerous devastating fires. The fire began generating its own wind, the defining characteristic of a firestorm . The superheated fire-driven winds combined with warmer, drier air east of the Berkeley Hills, and interacted with the ambient cooler, more moist Bay/Coastal air to create erratic, dangerous gusts, which helped produce numerous rotational vortices. All of these combined to help spread

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3192-490: The eighteenth-century Anglo-Irish philosopher." The philosopher's name is pronounced BARK-lee , but the city's name, to accommodate American English , is pronounced BERK-lee . The College of California's College Homestead Association planned to raise funds for the new campus by selling off adjacent parcels of land. To this end, they laid out a plat and street grid that became the basis of Berkeley's modern street plan. Their plans fell far short of their desires, and they began

3268-524: The end of the Vietnam War in 1975. While the 1960s were the heyday of liberal activism in Berkeley, it remains one of the most overwhelmingly Democratic cities in the United States. After the 1960s, Berkeley banned most new housing construction, in particular apartments. Increasing enrollment at the university led to replacement of older buildings by large apartment buildings, especially in older parts of

3344-549: The end, the park remained undeveloped, and remains so today. A spin-off, People's Park Annex , was established at the same time by activist citizens of Berkeley on a strip of land above the Bay Area Rapid Transit ("BART") underground construction along Hearst Avenue northwest of the U.C. campus. The land had also been intended for development, but was turned over to the city by BART and is now Ohlone Park . The era of large public protest in Berkeley waned considerably with

3420-406: The extent of the fire and spotting hidden hot spots. In terms of alarm assignments, it was the equivalent of a 107-alarm fire . For a variety of reasons, the firefighting teams were initially overwhelmed by the firestorm. The winds were gusting at times in excess of 70 mph (110 km/h), creating erratic and extreme fire behavior. Flames took out power lines to seventeen pumping stations in

3496-741: The fall of 2010, the Berkeley Student Food Collective opened after many protests on the UC Berkeley campus due to the proposed opening of the fast food chain Panda Express . Students and community members worked together to open a collectively run grocery store right off of the UC Berkeley campus, where the community can buy local, seasonal, humane, and organic foods. The Berkeley Student Food Collective still operates at 2440 Bancroft Way. On September 18, 2012, Berkeley became what may be

3572-455: The fire was confined to 2 acres (0.81 ha), with no damage to any structures, and was extinguished within 90 minutes. In 2015, a $ 4 million federal grant to prevent fires in the Oakland Hills ignited debate over whether to cut down trees in the region. The city and its fire department say clearing young eucalyptus trees and other non-native plants would deter another deadly firestorm like

3648-641: The fire was estimated at $ 1.5 billion ($ 2.99 billion in 2023 dollars ). The fire started on Saturday, October   19, from an incompletely extinguished grass fire in the Berkeley Hills , northeast of the intersection of California State Routes 24 and 13 (0.5 mi (0.8 km) north of the Caldecott Tunnel west portal. Firefighters fought the 5-acre (2.0 ha) fire on a steep hillside above 7151 Buckingham Boulevard, and by Saturday night believed it to be under control. The fire re-ignited as

3724-469: The fire, tossing embers in all directions. The wind was so strong that it also blew debris across the bay into San Francisco . Ash fell onto the field of Candlestick Park where the Detroit Lions and San Francisco 49ers were playing during that afternoon. The CBS telecast of the game also showed live footage of the fire. As with the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake two years earlier, the blimp shots from

3800-447: The fire. By Wednesday, October   23, at 8:00   a.m., the fire was declared under control, almost 72   hours after it started. The fire's rapid rate of spread and massively-destructive nature sparked renewed recognition of the dangers posed by wildland-urban interface fires in major cities, and spurred research and investigation into improved prevention and suppression of such fires. Several nonprofit groups arose after

3876-644: The fire. One, the Hills Emergency Forum, was created by local fire agencies to build consensus on fire safety standards and codes, offer multi-jurisdictional training, and coordinate fuel reduction strategies, as well as other goals. At least two citizen groups also arose, the North Hills Phoenix Association and the Claremont Canyon Conservancy to participate in policy decisions and provide educational and stewardship services at

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3952-406: The first city in the U.S. to officially proclaim a day recognizing bisexuals: September 23, which is known as Celebrate Bisexuality Day . On September 2, 2014, the city council approved a measure to provide free medical marijuana to low-income patients. The Measure D soda tax was approved by Berkeley voters on November 4, 2014, the first such tax in the United States. In the fall of 2011,

4028-409: The first dwellings to burn were surrounded by thick, dry vegetation . In addition, the nearby undeveloped land had even more dry brush. Other factors included many wood shake/shingle roofs which were easily ignited by embers, and the use of wood chip mulch in landscaping around buildings, which was blown around spreading embers and igniting vegetation across streets. The same conditions contributed to

4104-636: The founding of the Berkeley Art Association and the rivalries of competing studios and art clubs. In 1904, the first hospitals in Berkeley were created: the Alta Bates Sanatorium (today Alta Bates Summit Medical Center) for women and children, founded by nurse Alta Bates on Walnut Street, and the Roosevelt Hospital (later Herrick Hospital ), founded by LeRoy Francis Herrick, on the corner of Dwight Way and Milvia Street. In 1908,

4180-519: The mainline of the transcontinental railroad into Oakland was re-routed, putting the right-of-way along the bay shore through Ocean View. There was a strong prohibition movement in Berkeley at this time. In 1876, the state enacted the "mile limit law", which forbade sale or public consumption of alcohol within one mile (1.6 km) of the new University of California. Then, in 1899, Berkeley residents voted to make their city an alcohol-free zone. Scientists, scholars and religious leaders spoke vehemently of

4256-462: The national sports media provided many people with first word of the disaster. By mid-afternoon, the wind had slowed and shifted to the west, driving the fire to the southeast. At about 9:00   p.m., the wind abruptly stopped, giving firefighters a chance to contain the fire. Assistance from firefighting agencies as far north as the Oregon state line, as far south as Bakersfield and as far east as

4332-525: The nationwide Occupy Wall Street movement came to two Berkeley locations: on the campus of the University of California and as an encampment in Civic Center Park. During a Black Lives Matter protest on December 6, 2014, police use of tear gas and batons to clear protesters from Telegraph Avenue led to a riot and five consecutive days and nights of protests, marches, and freeway occupations in Berkeley and Oakland. Afterwards, changes were implemented by

4408-489: The one that whipped through the hills in 1991. One of the most famous victims who lost his house in the disaster was game designer Will Wright , who lived a few blocks away from where the fire started. He used his experience of rebuilding his life as the basis for the concept of the Maxis computer game series The Sims , and added the city's recovery from the fire as a scenario in the game SimCity 2000 . The fire provided

4484-514: The person who organized the original effort. "We can't bring the redwoods back everywhere in this urban area, but we can transform (part of) this canyon." The Conservancy continues to support substantial eucalyptus removal in Claremont Canyon by the major landowners. In 2017, UC was awarded a $ 3.6 million CalFire grant for large tree removal on its Hill Campus, which includes parts of Claremont Canyon. The Conservancy endorsed UC’s plan but filed

4560-662: The rest of the nation, fueled by spillover from the San Francisco housing shortage and population growth. South and West Berkeley underwent gentrification , with some historically Black neighborhoods such as the Adeline Corridor seeing a 50% decline in Black / African American population from 1990 to 2010. In the 1990s, public television's Frontline documentary series featured race relations at Berkeley's only public high school, Berkeley High School . With an economy dominated by

4636-599: The ridge of the Berkeley Hills . The 2020 census recorded a population of 124,321. Berkeley is home to the oldest campus in the University of California , the University of California, Berkeley , and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory , which is managed and operated by the university. It also has the Graduate Theological Union , one of the largest religious studies institutions in

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4712-555: The state law came into effect in 1995. For cities such as Berkeley, where rent control was already in place, the law limited the use of rent control to units built before the local rent-control law was enacted, i.e. 1980. During the 1970s and 1980s, activists increased their power in local government. This era also saw major developments in Berkeley's environmental and food culture. Berkeley's last Republican mayor, Wallace J. S. Johnson , left office in 1971. Alice Waters opened Chez Panisse in 1971. The first curbside recycling program in

4788-473: The streets and projects to improve social service provision for this demographic, homelessness has continued to be a significant problem in Berkeley. A culture of anti-establishment and sociopolitical activism marked the 1960s. The San Francisco Bay Area became a hotspot for hippie counterculture , and Berkeley became a haven for nonconformists and anarchists from all over the United States. Most public discourse around homelessness in Berkeley at this time

4864-610: The university campus along what is now Telegraph Avenue . The first post office opened in 1872. By the 1870s, the Transcontinental Railroad reached its terminus in Oakland. In 1876, a branch line of the Central Pacific Railroad , the Berkeley Branch Railroad , was laid from a junction with the mainline called Shellmound (now a part of Emeryville) into what is now downtown Berkeley . That same year,

4940-458: The university preparing to develop the park. The city of Berkeley has historically been a central location for homeless communities in the Bay Area. Since the 1930s, the city of Berkeley has fostered a tradition of political activism. The city has been perceived as a hub for liberal thought and action and it has passed ordinances to oust homeless individuals from Berkeley on multiple occasions. Despite efforts to remove unhoused individuals from

5016-523: The university. Meanwhile, a number of U.C. students became active in the civil rights movement . Finally, in 1964, the university provoked a massive student protest by banning distribution of political literature on campus. This protest became the Free Speech Movement . As the Vietnam War rapidly escalated in the ensuing years, so did student activism at the university, particularly that organized by

5092-503: The west, from where it began its sweep down into the Hiller Highlands development and the southern hills of Berkeley . Burning embers from houses and vegetation were carried ahead of the fire line by torrid winds and started new blazes ahead of the original burn. Within thirty minutes the fire had crossed both Highway   24 (an eight-lane freeway) and Highway   13 (a four-lane freeway), eventually igniting hundreds of houses in

5168-466: The wind-driven fire. Before most of the firefighting resources could be brought to the scene, the fire had established a large perimeter. At the fire's peak, it destroyed one house every 11 seconds. By the first hour, the fire had destroyed nearly 790   structures. In addition to the winds and the heat, an important factor in the rapid spread of the fire was that it started in an area that was at an interface between developed and undeveloped land. Many of

5244-492: The world. Berkeley is considered one of the most socially progressive cities in the United States. The site of today's City of Berkeley was the territory of the Chochenyo/Huchiun Ohlone people when the first Europeans arrived. Evidence of their existence in the area include pits in rock formations, which they used to grind acorns. wildflower seeds, grass seeds, and many different foods, including squirrel fat, and

5320-785: Was a large suburban wildland–urban interface conflagration that occurred on the hillsides of northern Oakland, California , and southeastern Berkeley over the weekend of October 19–20, 1991, before being brought under full control on October 23. The official name of this incident by Cal Fire is the Tunnel Fire . It is also commonly referred to as the Oakland Hills firestorm or the East Bay Hills fire . The fire ultimately killed 25 people and injured 150 others. The 1,520 acres (620 ha) destroyed included 2,843 single-family dwellings and 437 apartment and condominium units. The economic loss from

5396-420: Was considerable overlap between the hippie movement and the radical left. An iconic event in the Berkeley Sixties scene was a conflict over a parcel of university property south of the contiguous campus site that came to be called " People's Park ". The battle over the disposition of People's Park resulted in a month-long occupation of Berkeley by the National Guard on orders of then-Governor Ronald Reagan . In

5472-400: Was established, which in 1984 made policy recommendation to the school board, which passed domestic partner legislation. The legislation became a model for similar measures nationwide. In 1995, California's Costa–Hawkins Act ended vacancy control, allowing rents to increase when a tenant moved out. Despite a slow down in 2005–2007, median home prices and rents remain dramatically higher than

5548-402: Was no power to refill the emptied reservoirs. Additionally, many narrow, winding roads in the area were crowded with parked cars, including many in front of fire hydrants; this prevented fire trucks and ambulances from getting to certain areas and connecting fire hoses. The general situation was one of chaos and panic among residents in the area. The most important factor was the rapid spread of

5624-451: Was not standard equipment, firefighters were sometimes forced to don turn-outs which greatly hampered their ability to move quickly and stay cooler during a wildland fire. Fire hydrants now have the industry standard 4 + 1 ⁄ 2 and 2 + 1 ⁄ 2  inch outlets throughout the city. The lack of a standard in 1991 caused numerous difficulties for various agencies who attempted to connect to non-standard hydrants, even though

5700-716: Was published in a peer-reviewed journal, Fire Technology, as well as the trade journal The Fire and Arson Investigator. These articles helped to debunk several of the myths that plagued fire investigation, and improved the work product of fire investigators. Lentini, J., Smith, D. and Henderson R. “Baseline Characteristics of Residential Structures Which Have Burned to Completion: The Oakland Experience,” Fire Technology, Vol. 28, No. 3, August 1992. Lentini, J., Smith, D. and Henderson R., “Unconventional Wisdom: The Lessons of Oakland,” The Fire and Arson Investigator, Vol. 43, No. 4, June 1993. Berkeley, California Berkeley ( / ˈ b ɜːr k l i / BURK -lee )

5776-468: Was synthesized utilizing the 60-inch (1.5 m) cyclotron at UC Berkeley, and named in 1949, in recognition of the university, thus placing the city's name in the list of elements. During the 1940s, many African Americans migrated to Berkeley. In 1950, the Census Bureau reported Berkeley's population as 11.7% black and 84.6% white. The postwar years brought moderate growth to the city, as events on

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