With its new community wildfire plan, the city is tightening fire risk vegetation requirements, exploring ways to help homeowners fund the work, and taking steps toward restricting parking on narrow streets in the hills.
Wildfires
Posted inCity
Listen: Remembering the 1991 Oakland-Berkeley Firestorm
Wednesday is the fire’s 31st anniversary. We produced a podcast looking back at the historic blaze that forever changed how the East Bay looks at wildfires.
Posted inCrime & Safety
How seniors and people with disabilities can prepare for wildfires
Issues with mobility, hearing, vision, frailty and intellectual or developmental disabilities make emergency preparedness more challenging. Preparation can help and may save lives.
Posted inCity
Weather: What Berkeley can expect from this weekend’s rain
The storm won’t snuff out the threat of wildfire, but it could help reduce risk at the most dangerous time of year.
Posted inNature
3 big studies on East Bay’s creatures, plants and wildfire risk
A first-of-its-kind analysis looked at the health of East Bay wildlife, from bats to bobcats and salamanders to steelhead. Two major mapping projects will dive deep into vegetation and wildfire hazard.
Posted inFire
Parks throughout the East Bay hills will close Sunday, Monday due to fire risk
The East Bay Regional Park District is closing 40 parks in Alameda and Contra Costa counties, including Tilden and Wildcat and Claremont canyons, amid this weekend’s heat wave.
Posted inCommunity
How neighbors in the Berkeley Hills are making their community more wildfire resistant
The Firewise program helps neighbors form a plan to reduce wildfire risk. Berkeley’s first group formed this spring, and three more are in the works.
Posted inCity
Worried about wildfire? Here’s how to share your thoughts on Berkeley’s wildfire risk reduction plans
The city will hold a meeting Wednesday to introduce its plan to protect the community from increasingly destructive wildfires and garner resident feedback.
Posted inFire
How do you prepare for wildfires in Berkeley? Get answers in our guide
We’ve updated our Berkeley Wildfire Guide with preparation advice, evacuation guidance, and answers to your questions about air quality, power outages, and property defense.
Posted inCommunity
Cut, trim, pave! Crackdown on vegetation near homes in fire zones is coming
Berkeley Hills residents will soon be required to have a 5-foot ember-resistant zone around their homes. The state is getting more serious about its defensible space laws for fire prevention.
Posted inCity
Fire season is underway: Here’s what’s new in Berkeley this year
“We know we have big challenges ahead,” Berkeley Fire Chief Abe Roman said recently. “We all have to adapt to this new normal.”
Posted inCity
Berkeley’s tree removal aims to ‘set an example’ for wildfire management
The city has cut down nearly 300 trees, mostly eucalyptus and Monterey pine, since 2019 and is now ramping up defensible space inspections of private property in high-fire areas.