Scenic turnouts closed to public in Oakland to prevent wildfires

OAKLAND, Calif. (KRON) - Popular turnouts along scenic Grizzly Peak Boulevard in the East Bay Hills have been entirely blocked off from the public.

The cities of Oakland, Berkeley and a park district are working together to prohibit gatherings at those locations to minimize the high fire risk.

Nine turnouts along Grizzly Peak Boulevard from Berkeley through Oakland are now off limits to the public.

Initially, last month, the two cities in partnership with UC Berkeley and the East Bay Regional Park District committed to shutting the areas off late at night through the early morning but not everyone listened -- so, this is the next step.

"It's a pity they have to be blocked off. But they do have to be blocked off. I've seen nighttime and daytime, but mostly nighttime behavior up here that's absolutely crazy," resident Phillip Price said.

Oakland City Councilmember Dan Kalb says prohibiting the public from parking or gathering at the turnouts will lessen the fire danger.

"Whether it's a Red Flag day or not a Red Flag day, they need to be cautious about their actions. We cannot have any fireworks up here -- fireworks are illegal, period, here in Oakland. We cannot have any fireworks up here. People should not be smoking up here. No BBQ's or it fires up in the hills area during the fire season," Councilmember Kalb said. 

UC Berkeley provided the large tree logs used to block off the turnouts.

Eventually Kalb says chains will be added to them to prevent the logs from being moved.

"I don't want to see that year-round. I just want to see that closed off during the high fire season," Kalb said. 

Meanwhile, the East Bay Regional Park District's fire services crews are clearing brush and creating fire breaks in the hills, knocking down fuels that could potentially catch fire. 

Fire services working to avoid a disaster like 1991 when the Oakland Hills firestorm killed 25 people and destroyed thousands of homes.

“If there's an area immediately adjacent to where someone does foolishly light fireworks, and it can't spread, that's where our fuel breaks really help out," Fire Captain Kent Simpson said. 

All it takes is one spark.

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