Fire in Oakland Hills Prompts Evacuations Under Gusty Conditions

A brush fire erupted in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, forcing the evacuation of hillside neighborhoods and the brief closure of a major highway as high winds threatened to spread the blaze.

The five-alarm fire, which officials have named the Keller fire, had burned about 15 acres and damaged two homes in an Oakland Hills area, the Oakland Fire Department said. It came one day before the 33rd anniversary of the 1991 Tunnel fire, which killed 25 people and destroyed 3,000 homes several miles north of the current blaze.

More than two hours after the fire was first reported, officials began to express confidence that they were getting a handle on the situation. There were no reports of injuries, and Oakland Fire Department officials said that the forward progress of the wind-driven fire had been stopped. On Saturday, they added that the fire had largely been contained.

In a news conference on Saturday morning, the Oakland fire chief, Damon Covington, said the fire had initially escalated quickly because of intense winds. The wind died down enough for fire services to stop its spread Friday night, he said, adding that they would continue to monitor the winds throughout the day Saturday.

Images on Friday shared by fire officials showed aircraft flying through billowing smoke, dousing the hillside below as a fire engine fixed its hose on a home.

The area has some of the East Bay’s most desirable homes, with those near the top of the Oakland Hills peering over the San Francisco Bay with views of city skylines. But the 1991 blaze also looms in the memories of longtime residents as a deadly threat, especially in an era of climate change that has included some of the most destructive wildfires in California history.

Arthur Shanks, 45, stood and gazed at the hills from a parking lot near the fire in Oakland, worried about what residents might lose as firefighting helicopters flew overhead. The threat of future fires loomed over his mind.

“If it’s something that could get out of control, you’re always worried about that,” he said. “That fire in ’91 just kept jumping and jumping around. There’s a possibility that a fire could get started like that.”

At least 80 firefighters were dispatched to the area on Friday after the call came in at around 1:30 p.m., and officials ordered evacuations of hundreds of homes.

For a short period, the fire prompted officials to stop traffic on Interstate 580 less than half a mile west of the blaze.

The National Weather Service issued red flag warnings for much of the Bay Area this week as forecasters predicted a combination of conditions that made fires more likely. Strong wind gusts, low humidity and dry fuel had fire officials across the region on high alert.

The fire started just outside a home, and a man who was sleeping inside was able to get away after he heard an explosion that shattered a window, the chief said.

The cause was still under investigation. Under high-risk conditions like those on Friday, Mr. Covington said, “something as small as a cigarette” would be capable of sparking a blaze.

Travis Bristol and his wife, Tolani Britton, were on their way home from Costco to their Oakland Hills home around 1:30 p.m. when they spotted a roaring flame and smoke curling through the trees. Because it seemed far away, they didn’t think their home was in danger.

But shortly afterward, helicopters were above their neighborhood ordering them to evacuate.

“I was absolutely terrified, and I think I’m still shaken,” said Mr. Bristol, 42, an associate professor of education at the University of California, Berkeley, adding that he and his wife were thankful that their two children were in schools out of the area.

As the windy conditions grew worse, the utility company Pacific Gas & Electric began pre-emptively cutting off power to some customers beginning on Thursday evening. On Friday afternoon, more than 35,000 customers in the state were without power, according to Poweroutage.us, which tracks utility data. By Saturday afternoon, the number dropped to roughly 22,000.

Still, the National Weather Service warned that “critical fire conditions” were possible in Southern California through Saturday, with the San Gabriel and San Bernardino mountain ranges expected to see wind gusts of up to 50 miles per hour.

October has become ever more dangerous in California as heat waves continue deeper into the fall season and landscapes become ever more parched months after the last major rainfall.

Erin McCann, Coral Murphy Marcos, Corina Knoll and Rachel Nostrant contributed reporting.