Smoke billows over UC Berkeley hills as fast-moving brush fire damages home

A brush fire erupted in the hills above UC Berkeley Tuesday.

Fire crews from Oakland Fire, Berkeley Fire, East Bay Regional Park District, and CAL FIRE are responding to the vegetation fire, which was first reported at 11:45 am.

The blaze had consumed a quarter-acre of vegetation by noon and spread to a nearby home, which sustained visible damage, Oakland fire officials told ABC News.

The fire appears to be centered at 1001 Panoramic Way, the site of closed property Skyfall Estate in Berkeley.

Tuesday also marks the 35th anniversary of the 1991 Oakland Hills firestorm, also known as the Tunnel Fire. The blaze struck the East Bay hills between October 19 and 23, 1991, and consumed nearly 1,520 acres. It completely destroyed nearly 3,354 single-family homes and 437 apartments.

A Red Flag Warning was issued across most of Southern California last week ahead of an anticipated Santa Ana wind event, which was expected to significantly elevate fire danger across the region. With the offshore winds subsiding, the warnings were lifted Saturday.

California diverted nearly $369 million in federal disaster aid meant for wildfire victims toward low-income housing developers. The California Post had reported last week. 

The developers were not required to reserve any units for survivors while thousands of displaced residents scrambled to rebuild following the state’s catastrophic 2018 wildfire season, which claimed 103 lives and destroyed or damaged more than 24,000 structures.

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