OAKLAND LEADERS SAID they’re all geared up to tackle the fire dangers associated with the Fourth of July holiday, the proliferation of illegal fireworks and the ongoing risks of this year’s fire season.
At a news conference Monday at Oakland’s Firestorm Memorial Garden, Mayor Barbara Lee, Fire Chief Damon Covington and Oakland City Councilmember Janani Ramachandran highlighted the city’s efforts to prevent and respond to wildfires.
“When I said that we would move quickly on fire prevention, I really meant it,” Lee said. “We’re delivering results. We’re doing it in an open way with teamwork, creativity and a shared commitment to public safety.”
The trio discussed the city’s vegetation management plan, which guides efforts to remove dry grasses, dead and dying trees and other fire-fuel hazards, particularly in Oakland’s high-fire-danger hills neighborhoods, including on more than 1,400 acres of open space and along 300 miles of roads.
Perhaps the most visible and popular piece of that plan involves thousands of ravenous goats that are annually loosed on Oakland’s dry landscapes to devour the fuel that can lead to deadly conflagrations.
“The goats make everyone feel good because they make you know that there’s work that’s being done,” Covington said. “But beyond that, our crews are out every morning right now doing 25,000 residential inspections, making sure that we’ve created our defensible space around each home to keep our community safe.”
Covington said Measure MM, a $2.7 million-a-year parcel tax Oakland voters passed in 2024, provides funding for clearing brush and hazardous trees that would have otherwise been left to grow wild.
The measure “gives us additional funding to do the work that we have not been able to do for years,” he said.
Firestorm memories linger
Ramachandran noted the symbolic significance of holding the news conference at the Firestorm Memorial Garden in the Oakland Hills, where a massive 1991 fire burned more than 1,500 acres, destroyed more than 3,000 homes and killed 25 people.
“There is not a day that goes by for thousands of my constituents who lived through this fire where it is not top of mind,” Ramachandran said. “It is one of the most important things that people want to make sure never happens again.”
“Currently we are right in the middle of high fire season, standing on the ground where we had one of our biggest devastations in the city, so we are acutely aware of the dangers that exist here.”
Fire Chief Damon Covington
She also praised city leaders for passing a budget that keeps all of Oakland’s 25 fire stations open for the first time in 20 years and that continues to fund the Tree Services Division, which proactively maintains some 200,000 trees in city parks and neighborhoods.
As for the Fourth of July holiday, Covington said Oakland and Berkeley will close off Grizzly Peak Boulevard for 24 hours starting at 6 a.m. July 4.
The Oakland Fire Department, in partnership with Alameda County and Berkeley fire crews, will also have extra patrols throughout the city looking for literal hot spots and have set up a phone number — (510) 777-8814 — that people can call to report illegal fireworks.
“Currently we are right in the middle of high fire season, standing on the ground where we had one of our biggest devastations in the city, so we are acutely aware of the dangers that exist here,” Covington said.
Covington also urged people to enjoy the legal, city-sponsored fireworks shows throughout the region, and to stay away from celebrations featuring illegal pyrotechnics.
He reminded residents that all fireworks are illegal in the city, including the so-called “safe and sane” brands.
“July Fourth is one of our more treacherous days when it comes to fire safety,” Covington said. “We’ve had issues with it in the past, of people having illegal fireworks in our city. It exacerbates our ability to keep our city safe.”
The post Ready for the Fourth: Oakland deploys goats as part of strategy to reduce fire-fuel hazards appeared first on Local News Matters.