Forward progress stopped on Oakland Hills, California fire that damaged at least 10 homes: officials

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Forward progress has been stopped on a fast-moving Oakland Hills, California fire that damaged at least 10 structures and forced hundreds to evacuate their homes on Friday.

The fire broke out around 1:30 p.m. burning a little over a mile away from the Oakland Zoo. It burned at least 13 acres, according to fire officials.

Several aircraft with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection were dropping fire retardant and state highway officials say they shut down lanes on westbound 580 due to the fire.

During a news conference Friday evening, Oakland Fire Chief Damon Covington said that 500 residents were evacuated.

Evacuation orders have been issued for the following zones:

• OKL-E176


• OKL-E177


• OKL-E203


• OKL-E204

Evacuation warnings have been issued for the following zones:

• OKL-E179


• OKL-E178

An evacuation center has been set up at Burckhalter Elementary School.

Fire officials say crews are now going through the neighborhood to see if it's safe for residents to return to their homes.

Oakland Unified officials say that afterschool sports at Skyline High School and Castlemont High School have been canceled for Friday evening.

Smoke was visible 2 to 3 miles away. Firetrucks and ambulances struggled to get through the gridlock in the freeway's westbound lanes, their sirens blasting to get vehicles to move out of their way as they raced toward the blaze. The traffic frustrated some drivers enough that they exited the roadway through on-ramps, while others drove on the freeway's shoulder. The side streets remained heavily gridlocked as well.

During a diablo wind, common in the fall, the air is so dry that relative humidity levels plunge, drying out vegetation and making it ready to burn. The name - "diablo" is Spanish for "devil" - is informally applied to a hot wind that blows near the San Francisco region from the interior toward the coast as high pressure builds over the West.

The "diablo wind" is forecast to cause sustained winds reaching 35 mph in many areas, with possible gusts topping 65 mph along mountaintops, according to the National Weather Service. The strong winds are expected to last through part of the weekend.

A total of about 20,000 customers could lose power temporarily in the next couple of days, PG&E said in a statement Friday.

"The duration and extent of power outages will depend on the weather in each area, and not all customers will be affected for the entire period," the utility said.

The cause of the fire is unknown at this time.

This fire comes nearly 33 years to the date after the deadly Oakland Hills firestorm.

On Oct. 19, 1991, the Tunnel Fire tore through the Oakland Hills killing 25 people and destroying nearly 3,500 homes.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.