OAKLAND — Fire crews continued to put out the final flames and monitor the burn-scarred areas of the Oakland Hills on Monday following a fire that scorched 15 acres and stirred up harsh reminders of what could’ve happened.
The Keller Fire that broke out Friday afternoon was 90% contained by 6:30 a.m. Monday, according to Cal Fire. Fire crews stopped the forward progress of the blaze within three hours after it started about 2 p.m.
Residents from 43 homes who were evacuated were cleared to return on Sunday at 8 p.m.
PG&E de-energized a section of distribution powerlines in Oakland for safety reasons. At its peak, 1,089 customers lost power because of it, according to the utility.
All of those customers had power on Monday morning.
Alameda County Fire and Cal Fire crews also were at the scene through the weekend, fighting the fire with hand crews. Cal Fire aircraft dropped retardant on Friday.
“Air support is awesome, but we can’t say enough about the . . . hand crews, which played a key role in establishing a fire break at the Keller Fire,” the Oakland Fire Dept. wrote on social media. It added the crews “worked tirelessly the last three days to contain and extinguish the fire.”
The blaze stoked memories of the deadly 1991 Oakland Hills Fire that killed 25 people, destroyed more than 3,000 homes and caused $1.68 billion in property damage in Oakland and Berkeley. The Keller Fire began one day shy of the 33rd anniversary of that blaze.
