“Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” Winston Churchill
The East Bay has a long history of fires. Here is a map for some of them, starting in 1905. "However, many more fires occurred which were never mapped, therefore those displayed here represent a small percentage of this area’s fire history. " (From History of East Bay Fires [PDF])
source: EBParks.org
- Aug/Sep/Oct 1905 (unclear) - Strawberry Canyon North of UC Berkeley Campus. 125-300 acres. Diablo wind reported. Ignition unknown.
- September 1923 - Berkeley / North of UC Berkeley campus. 584 homes destroyed and 130 acres. Diablo wind. Ignition: smoker.
- June 1929 – Oakland/ Lake Temescal. 300 acres grassland. West wind, burned from Lake Temescal toward Skyline Boulevard and Tunnel Road. (Source Berkeley Daily Gazette June 22, 1929). Ignition: unknown.
- November 1931 - Leona. 5 homes destroyed and 1800 acres burned. Diablo wind. Ignition: unknown.
- November 1933 - Redwood / Joaquin Miller. 1 life, 5 homes and 1000 acres. Diablo wind. Ignition: smoker.
- September 1937 - Broadway Terrace. 4 homes, 700 acres. West wind. Ignition: Backyard fire.
- September 1940 - Broadway Terrace. 30 acres. West wind. Ignition: unknown.
- September 1946 - Buckingham/ Norfolk. 1,000 acres. Diablo wind. Ignition: arson & rekindle.
- November 1955 - Montclair. 10 acres. West wind. Ignition: unknown.
- October 1960 - Leona. 2 homes, 1200 acres. Diablo wind. Ignition: unknown.
- November 1961 - Tilden, Briones, Roberts & Chabot. 4 fires, 400 acres. South-west wind. Ignition: arson.
- October 1968 - Oak knoll. 204 acres. West wind. Ignition: unknown.
- September 1970 - Buckingham/Norfolk. 37 homes destroyed, 21 homes damaged, 204 acres. Diablo wind. Ignition: arson.
- December 1980 - Berkeley/ Wildcat (Woodhaven). 5 homes, 2 acres. Diablo wind. Ignition: power line.
- October 1990 - Leona. 200 acres. West wind. Ignition: vehicle accident.
- October 1991 - Buckingham/Norfolk (Tunnel Fire). 25 lives. 3354 homes 456 apartments 1600 acres, estimated $1.5 billion damages. Diablo wind. Ignition: rekindle.
source: List data primarily from Hills Emergency Forum East Bay Fire List [PDF]
This East Bay Parks page mentions excerpts of contemporary new reports for most of these fires: Background Report: The East Bay Hills Wildfire Problem Statement | East Bay Parks.
Zooming exclusively on the Berkeley part of the East Bay Fires gives us the following image:
