To: californiadisasters@yahoogroups.com
From: HappyMoosePhoto@gmail.com
Date: Sat, 20 Oct 2012 13:09:20 -0700
Subject: RE: [californiadisasters] 1991 Oakland Hills Firestorm, 10/20/2012, 11:00 am
The fire service is the one agency completely unimpeded by progress. Tradition rules the day.
It was the third day of a 'Diablo' wind event, which in my personal history is the worst day. I had just arrived home after a shift and when I opened the car door, the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. The winds had doubled in intensity, it was 20 degrees warmer and the humidity had fallen to none in the 20 minute drive from the station. I knew something was going to pop that day. It was only a question of where. I had no doubt whatsoever.
I'm not here to knock OFD. They had shone brightly after the Loma Prieta earthquake and knew how to kick ass and take names in structure fires.
-=-=-=-
This fire was NOT a series of chained structure fires. It was a wildland style event (completely weather driven) and it forced the OFD into the 20th century. OFD then had no concept of large wildfire management and were completely overwhelmed in short order. They were slow in reacting and got WAY behind the management curve. This one incident forced a change in their way of thinking.
This fire was precipitated by OFD because they didn't know how to properly secure a fire scene from the small vegetation fire the day before. It wasn't their forte and it should have been put completely out and some trees dropped (mostly eucalyptus, a non-native and fire prone species) to secure the scene AND left someone to watch it. That lack of knowledge allowed the fire to rekindle before OFD bothered to check on it the next afternoon (they WERE on their way to do that). They did a poor job compared to the standards used by most of the state agencies, but met the (then) current standards of the department. That lack cost the city many tens of millions and some lives.
After the fire, OFD soon developed a wildfire strategy (ok, they stole and hired qualified folks from CDF and my agency to get there). They learned how to manage larger fires under a different operational style (extended attack wildland modeling). They learned how to ask for mutual aid (huh? Who; us needing help?) and other resources MUCH quicker than before instead of 'toughing it out'. They got caught with their pants down but learned to pull them up after this fire.
They also worked hard to improve the very old water system (lack of hydrant pressure was a HUGE issue; it's still a problem) and are (a wee bit) closer to SFD, which was unable to provide much help because SFD uses non-standard water fittings and didn't have adapters (that's another issue). Other agencies that assisted also ran into issues (too much freelancing, no operational management and more). Mutual aid training and cooperation is improved now.
Everything fire related, be it departmental styles and reactions or codified law; is 20:20 hindsight from events such as this. That knowledge comes at a very high cost. It was OFD's turn for a spanking and they got whipped.
They also got lucky, the winds quit and the fog soon rolled in. Otherwise, it'd have burned to the bay and headed towards San Jose and Richmond.
Rick
From: californiadisasters@yahoogroups.com [mailto:californiadisasters@yahoogroups.com]
Sent: Saturday, October 20, 2012 10:46 AM
To: californiadisasters@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [californiadisasters] 1991 Oakland Hills Firestorm, 10/20/2012, 11:00 am
| Reminder from: |
| |
|
| ||
| Title: |
| 1991 Oakland Hills Firestorm |
|
| ||
| Date: |
| Saturday October 20, 2012 |
| Time: |
| 11:00 am - 11:00 am |
| Location: |
| Alameda County - East Bay Hills |
| Notes: |
| On this date in 1991 a powerful Diablo Wind Event featuring tropical storm force winds fanned a small smoldering fire on patrol status that had started and been contained the day before into a raging monster that killed 25 people (including both a firefighter and a policeman) and injured another 150 people, damaged or destroyed 3,354 single family dwellings and 437 multi-family dwellings, and scorched 1,520 acres costing a grand total of about $1.5 billion in 1991 dollars. |
|
| ||
| Get reminders on your mobile, Yahoo! Messenger, and email. | ||
__._,_.___
Be sure to check out our Links Section at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/californiadisasters/links
Please join our Discussion Group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/californiadisasters_discussion/ for topical but extended discussions started here or for less topical but nonetheless relevant messages.
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully Featured
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe
__,_._,___
No comments:
Post a Comment