Calmer weather helps contain Oakland, California, fire that forced evacuations

OAKLAND, Calif. — Firefighting crews took advantage of calmer weather Sunday to increase containment of a small wildfire in Oakland, California, that burned two homes and forced more than 500 people to evacuate.

Most residents were allowed to return home Saturday but a handful of evacuation orders remained in effect for a hillside neighborhood where firefighters were still dousing hotspots.

“We don’t want to assume that it’s out and come back and it’s sparked again,” Oakland Fire Chief Damon Covington said during a Saturday evening briefing.

The blaze was 70% contained Sunday morning.

Flames erupted Friday afternoon and were fed by a major “ diablo wind ” — notorious in autumn for its hot, dry gusts — that spiked the risk of wildfire across Northern California. Red flag warnings for increased fire danger expired Saturday and conditions eased further throughout the weekend.

The cause of the fire was not immediately known.

The blaze burned a day before the Oct. 19 anniversary of a 1991 fire in the Oakland Hills that destroyed nearly 3,000 homes and killed 25 people.

In Southern California, firefighters on Saturday fully contained a small, wind-driven wildfire that ripped through dry brush near the Jurupa Valley area of Riverside County east of Los Angeles.