User:Clarabrownstein/1923 Berkeley, California fire

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1923 Berkeley Fire
A frame from a newsreel documenting the fire.
Location	Berkeley, Alameda County, California
Statistics
Cost	Unknown
Date(s)	September 17, 1923
Burned area	Unknown
Cause	Undetermined
Buildings destroyed	640
Deaths	0
Non-fatal injuries	Unknown

Article body

Intersection of Scenic Ave. and Virginia St. right after the fire

Although the exact cause was never determined, the fire began in the undeveloped chaparral and grasslands of Wildcat Canyon, just east of the ridgeline of the Berkeley Hills, and was propelled over the ridge and southwestward just south of Codornices Creek by a strong, gusty, and intensely dry northeasterly wind. The fire quickly blew up as it swept through the La Loma Park and Northside neighborhoods of Berkeley, overwhelming the capabilities of the Berkeley Fire Department to stop it. The home at 125 Shasta Road was the first to be destroyed in the fire, according to The Story of the Berkeley Fire. A number of UC students fought the advance of the fire as it approached the north edge of the University of California campus, at Hearst Avenue. The other edge of the fire was fought by firefighters as it advanced on downtown Berkeley along the east side of Shattuck Avenue north of University Avenue. Firefighters were rushed in from neighboring Oakland, and San Francisco sent firefighters by ferry across the bay.

Firefighting efforts were hampered by the inadequacy of water mains in northern Berkeley, where rapid development after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake had outgrown the water supply in the fire area. Firefighters trying to fight the fire connected to hydrants in the area that hissed dry and were hampered also by the predominance of cedar shake roofs. However, according to Audrey Boyd in The Berkeley Fire, "rivers of water could have been poured into that blaze without deterring it." The strong and dry wind lifted burning shakes off burning houses and quickly spread the fire. The fire was halted only when the northeasterly winds died down and were replaced by the cool, humid afternoon sea breeze. The fire lines were established at Hearst and Shattuck Avenues, where larger water mains delivered a reliable water supply for firefighting.

The total loss was estimated at $10,000,000 by the National Board of Fire Underwriters.

Bibliography[edit]

• The Story of the Berkeley Fire.
• The Berkeley Fire, Aubrey Boyd, 1923.
• Nast, Condé (1974-09-16). "Wildfire: Berkeley, 1923". The New Yorker.
• "Trailing blazes back: Revisiting the 1923 Berkeley Fire". The Daily Californian. 2017-10-15.