Facing a dangerous weekend of dry, gusty winds across California, firefighters in Oakland are battling a brush fire that damaged two homes, threatened several others and led to the evacuation of roughly 500 residents.
The Keller fire broke out in the Oakland Hills near Mountain Boulevard and Keller Avenue on Friday afternoon and quickly grew to 13 acres, burning toward hillside homes. The blaze erupted at a time when large swaths of the state, including much of the Bay Area, remained under a red-flag warning stemming from low humidity and gusty winds.
Crews were able to stop the fire's forward advance around 4 p.m. It was 35% contained as of 7 p.m.
In Riverside County, crews were battling a 25-acre fire that started just after 4 p.m. and was charring through heavy vegetation on the Santa Ana River bottom.
A smaller blaze was burning in the hills off Colima Road in Hacienda Heights in Los Angeles County.
The fires come as a stretch of potentially hazardous weather is spanning much of California through the weekend, with strong winds, red-flag conditions and the risk of additional power shutoffs — already in place for thousands — to avoid sparking more wildfires.
From Redding to Riverside, forecasters are warning of a strong offshore flow through at least Saturday, with gusts as high as 40 and 50 mph drying out huge swaths of California and triggering utility shutoffs in the most vulnerable areas. In Southern California, the conditions are creating the Santa Ana winds — the first of the season — often the culprit for some of the region's most dangerous late-season fires .
According to a red-flag warning issued for Southern California , "if fire ignition occurs, conditions are favorable for rapid fire spread and extreme fire behavior which would threaten life and property."
By Friday evening, more than 24,000 electricity customers across the state were experiencing shutoffs.
In Northern and Central California, Pacific Gas & Electric initiated public safety power shutoffs Thursday afternoon, which expanded in scope through Friday morning. On Friday, about 16,000 customers had been cut off, with the shutoffs possibly lasting through Sunday, according to PG&E's latest update . It wasn't immediately clear how many more people may be affected, but initially 20,000 customers across 24 counties were being considered for shutoffs. The shutoffs were initiated across the northern Sacramento Valley, along the inland Bay Area and even down into Santa Barbara County, the utility's outage map showed.
In Oakland, hundreds of customers affected by the Keller fire lost power.
Jon Goldberg, who lives a few streets above the fire, was working at his desk around 2 p.m. when a barbecue-like smell drifted in through his open window.
"I was looking out the window and started to see some tufts of smoke and it got really dry and warm," he said. "There's been tons of helicopters coming in to drop fire retardant and some that cause the whole house to rattle when they go overhead."
Goldberg said he packed up some of his most valuable possessions — electronics, passports, wedding rings and clothes — in anticipation of a potential evacuation.
Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao shared a video on X thanking firefighters and reminding residents of the city's wildfire risk.
The Keller fire ignited a day before the 33-year anniversary of the Oakland Hills fire that killed 25 people and destroyed nearly 3,000 homes near the area that burned Friday.
"Please sign up for AC [Alameda County] alerts ; please have a plan for escape routes. If you don’t have a plan, please create one," Thao said. "You need to communicate with your children if you have children; you need to create a plan for your pets."
The Red Cross responded to assist those affected by the fire. No injuries were reported. Authorities have not determined the cause.
Southern California Edison, which provides power to about 15 million people in the Southland, had cut power for about 8,000 customers across Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside, Inyo and Mono counties as of Friday afternoon "due to heightened wildfire risk," the company reported. Many of the shutoffs were located across the Santa Monica Mountains, San Bernardino County's mountain communities and around Riverside, SCE's outage map showed.
In the Angeles National Forest near Wrightwood, where the Bridge fire was considered 99% contained, federal officials said the increase in northeast winds Friday were "causing the interior heat source to kick up smoke within the fire perimeter." The fire ignited in early September and grew to almost 55,000 acres. Despite Friday's uptick in smoke, officials said it "poses no threat to containment lines."
Winds in Orange County near Trabuco Canyon prompted several 911 calls Friday as the sky filled with what appeared to be smoke. Officials were unable to locate a fire and said the wind was probably just blowing dust and ash from the Airport fire burn area.
The utility said it was considering power shutoffs for more than 123,000 customers across six counties, including Orange and Riverside, and additional locations in Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties.
The state's big three investor-owned utilities, PG&E, SCE and San Diego Gas & Electric, have adopted a strategy in the last decade of de-energizing their lines where their equipment is at risk of malfunctioning during powerful winds and sparking a fire. Many of California's deadliest and most destructive fires were started by utility equipment.
Diane Castro, a spokesperson for Southern California Edison, said shutoffs are possible through Saturday afternoon. PG&E said its shutoffs would probably be required through Saturday.
Winds across the state began to pick up late Thursday as a low-pressure system moved down the state from the Pacific Northwest, particularly so in Northern California where the National Weather Service recorded gusts hitting 63 mph at Mt. St. Helena, 45 mph at Los Vaqueros Reservoir and 48 mph at Mt. Diablo.
Much of the Bay Area and Sacramento Valley remain under a red-flag warning through Saturday evening, with wind gusts up to 65 mph expected along some of the highest peaks and sustained winds up to 35 mph, according to the weather service.
"Despite recent cool weather and high humidity, we are expecting a widespread and prolonged offshore wind event which will likely dry fuels out very quickly," the region's red-flag warning said.
While the offshore flow will slightly raise overnight temperatures, pushing out any marine layer influence, overall temperatures in the area won't increase, said Joe Merchant, a weather service meteorologist in Monterey.
"Usually people do associate fire weather concerns with hot temperatures ... [but] temperatures are going to feel relatively normal for this time of year," Merchant said. "That doesn't mean we can't have critical fire weather concerns."
He said plants and brush are at record-low moisture levels, which means any fire could rapidly spread.
On Thursday in northern Los Angeles County, wind gusts peaked at 56 mph at Lake Palmdale, with blustery winds also recorded along the Central Coast and into the Antelope Valley, the weather service said. Conditions were expected to intensify Friday.
The Santa Ana pattern of winds is creating red-flag conditions across the mountains and valleys in Los Angeles and Ventura counties through Saturday, the weather service warned.
"Gusts between 30 and 45 mph will be common over much of Los Angeles and Ventura counties, with isolated gusts to around 50 mph," the red-flag warning said. "Winds will be strongest in the valleys and mountains."
Those high winds coupled with low relative humidity "will support rapid fire growth and erratic fire behavior," the warning said.
Valleys and mountains in San Bernardino and Riverside counties are also under a red-flag warning through Saturday.
In Orange County, the Santa Ana Mountains are facing similar windy conditions, but forecasters said the recent Airport fire eliminated much of the available brush, making the area less ripe for fire spread.
Farther east, parts of southwest California aren't necessarily facing those critical fire conditions, but gusty winds — up to 60 mph — are still expected through Saturday. A wind advisory for the Mojave Desert, the Coachella Valley and other inland areas warned that tree limbs could fall, unplanned power outages were possible, and driving could be difficult, especially for high-profile vehicles.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times .
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