Introduction: A fast-moving wildfire

About 500 people were ordered to evacuate
a hillside neighborhood in Oakland on Friday after
a fast-spreading fire driven by strong winds

destroyed two homes, damaged several
others and forced evacuations, officials said.
Fire Chief Damon Covington said officers

received a report of a fire outside a home
in Oakland Hills around 1:30 p.m. Under red
flag conditions, the crew took off in hellish
conditions that quickly escalated, from
light breezes to 40 mph winds.

Fire department spokesman

Fire department spokesman Michael
Hunt said one of the
houses was badly damaged,

but the second was only slightly damaged. Fewer
than ten other homes
were damaged by smoke
and water. Initial reports about the number of
buildings damaged were contradictory.

The fire broke out
near Highway 580, which
connects the San Francisco Bay Area with central
California. Traffic jams occurred as people tried to
leave the area and a cloud of smoke
billowed over the city of 440,000.

Covington said the flames burned the
eucalyptus tree and spread the flames to
both sides of the road. Within
three hours, this area
increased to 13 hectares. At around 4 p.m., many
firefighters were still fighting the fire, but
emergency services were able to contain it.

“Less than ten houses were damaged, but
hundreds of houses and buildings were
threatened,” the president said.

Strong winds were reported in the Santa
Monica and San
Gabriel Mountains, with gusts
of 45 and 55 mph on Friday, with gusts as
high as 60 mph in some cases.

Meanwhile, the weather
service in Reno, Nevada,

reported light snow on the mountaintops
around Lake Tahoe Friday night. Temperatures
close to freezing are expected again
from Friday evening to Saturday.

Wind gauges on the two peaks west of Lake
Tahoe showed gusts of 75 and 104 mph
(120 km/h and 167 km/h)
Friday morning, with gust

expected to continue overnight and ease by
Saturday morning, National
Weather reported. Service s.

The service issued the first frost warning of the
season for the eastern Sierra between
2 a.m. and 9 a.m. Friday. Temperatures may
drop between 2 a.m. and 9 a.m. Friday in California’s

Lassen, Sierra and Plumas counties, from Carson City
south to Reno. 20 degrees Fahrenheit (-5 degrees Celsius).