After a further assessment of the situation, 11 additional strike
teams were requested at 1746 hours, also directed to report to the
Raimondi Park staging area To obtain this level of resources, fire
departments from up to 300 miles away mobilized units to respond to
Oakland These forces would be needed to relieve exhausted firefighters,
some of whom had been engaged on the front lines for almost seven hours.
The San Francisco strike teams were able to maintain contact with
their own Communications Center and requested additional support from
their own Department. Two Hose Tenders were activated by reassigning
ladder company crews and responded to the staging area at the Claremont
Hotel. These units are loaded with 5-inch hose and are equipped to
establish emergency above-ground water supply systems in the event of an
earthquake. Three water tenders and a communications vehicle from the
Department of Public Works were also dispatched to Oakland. In
response to further requests for assistance, San Francisco called in 85
additional off-duty personnel and sent them to Oakland by bus to reinforce
the companies at the Claremont Hotel and in the Rockridge district.
On the hill above the Claremont Hotel, the fire was advancing
through a mixture of modem homes and stately mansions, working its way
down the hillside. With the hotel protected by master streams, poised for
action, the crews climbed the hill to engage the fire on the upper streets,
but found that the hydrants on the upper streets were dry. They returned
to the bottom and started up again, hand-stretching a S-inch hoseline to
support an offensive attack on the fire. The fire was successfully held at
Alvarado Road.
In the Rockridge district, the S-inch hose and portable hydrant
system was used to bring a strong water supply into the area where San
Francisco units were operating. Several companies were able to obtain
water from the portable hydrants.
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