East Bay Hills Fire (Oakland-Berkely, CA - October 1991) » Fire Protection Agencies

The City of Oakland is protected by a 480 member career fire department and operates a total of 23 engine companies, seven truck companies, a hazardous materials unit, a fireboat, and a light duty rescue unit. Several of the engine companies are assigned small 4-wheel drive brush trucks, known as “Patrols” that are used for grass and brush fires and are staffed by the engine crew when needed. An engine company will usually take both vehicles when responding to a brush or grass fire. Most of the engine and ladder companies operate with four crew members, although three member crews are not unusual on engine companies, depending on the available personnel.

The Oakland Fire Department has been severely impacted by budget reductions during the past decade and has lost approximately 40 percent of its on-duty staffing. At least 10 companies were discontinued and the remaining companies operate with reduced staffing. The hardest hit area was the command level, which was reduced from an Assistant Chief and five Battalion Chiefs on each shift to an Assistant Chief and two Battalion Chiefs. The Assistant Chief now serves as both the Shift Commander and as Battalion 2. The Chief’s Operator (Battalion Aide) positions were also cut, leaving the three on-duty command officers with no support staff.

The City of Berkeley operates seven engine companies and two truck companies, under the supervision of a Battalion Chief on each shift. Berkeley also reduced its on-duty staffing level by approximately 30 percent as a result of budget limitations. The 94 member department also provides advanced life support ambulances and a hazardous materials unit.

Both Oakland and Berkeley are located in Alameda County and participate in the Alameda County Fire Mutual Aid Plan. Oakland is the coordinating department for mutual aid within the North Zone of Alameda County, which includes 11 agencies. The Lawrence Liver-more National Laboratories Fire Department is the central coordinating agency for all three zones (North, South, and East), which includes 29 different fire protection jurisdictions.

The Contra Costa County Fire Protection District is responsible for protecting a large unincorporated area in Contra Costa County as well as the incorporated communities of Lafayette, Walnut Creek, Concord, Clayton, Pleasant Hill, and Martinez. The ConFire Communications Center dispatches the 20 stations that are operated by the Consolidated Fire District, provides communications for the Orinda and Moraga Fire Departments and serves as the central mutual aid coordination point for the entire county. The remainder of Contra Costa County is served by a mixture of 17 municipal fire departments and independent fire districts.

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CDF) has the primary responsibility for fire protection on state owned and state administered lands. It is primarily staffed and equipped as a wildland fire protection agency, although it provides structural fire protection for some counties and local jurisdictions on a contractual basis. In the San Francisco Bay area, CDF operates wildland engine companies, hand crews, bulldozers, and helitack units. (A helitack unit is a helicopter carrying a lo-member hand crew and capable of making water drops on fires.) Tanker aircraft are also deployed to protect state responsibility areas. The regional headquarters is located at the Santa Clara Ranger Station in Morgan Hill, near San Jose.

The California Office of Emergency Services is a state government executive level agency that is charged with disaster preparedness and coordination. OES coordinates the statewide mutual aid system for fires and other major emergencies. The entire San Francisco Bay area is located within OES Region II, which is coordinated from the CDF office in Santa Rosa. Among the resources of OES are a fleet of OES-owned engines that are assigned to local fire departments. These engines are subject to call-up for major incidents and are then staffed by the fire departments where they are assigned. Several of the Bay Area fire departments have OES engines in their stations and are prepared to respond with them.

Most of the Bay area is protected by career fire departments, although some of the smaller jurisdictions have volunteer reserves for backup. Alameda County has a small reserve force, organized under OES, which responded to the East Bay Hills fire. In addition to the municipal fire departments, fire districts, and CDF, there are also several military installations and independent facilities, such as the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, and the East Bay Regional Parks District that have their own career fire departments and participate in the mutual aid system.

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