The
1923 Berkeley Fire was a
conflagrationConflagration is an uncontrolled burning that threatens human life, health, property or ecology. A conflagration can be accidentally or intentionally created . Arson can be accomplished for the purpose of sabotage, diversion, and also can be the consequence of pyromania. During conflagration the...
which consumed some 640 structures, including 584 homes in the densely-built neighborhoods north of the campus of the
University of CaliforniaThe University of California is a public university system in the state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University system...
in
Berkeley, CaliforniaBerkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
on September 17, 1923.
Although the exact cause was never determined, the fire began in the undeveloped
chaparralChaparral is a shrubland or heathland plant community found primarily in the U.S. state of California and in the northern portion of the Baja California peninsula, Mexico. It is shaped by a Mediterranean climate and wildfire...
and
grasslandGrasslands are areas where the vegetation is dominated by grasses and other herbaceous plants . However, sedge and rush families can also be found. Grasslands occur naturally on all continents except Antarctica...
s of
Wildcat CanyonWildcat Canyon is a narrow linear valley just east of the Berkeley Hills in the San Francisco Bay Area, situated in Contra Costa County, California. The canyon is bounded on its east side by the San Pablo Ridge, and is drained by Wildcat Creek which runs northwest to its outlet in San Pablo Bay. ...
, just east of the ridgeline of the
Berkeley HillsThe Berkeley Hills are a range of the Pacific Coast Ranges which overlook the northeast side of the valley in which San Francisco Bay is situated...
, and was propelled over the ridge and southwestward just south of
Codornices CreekCodornices Creek is one of the principal creeks which runs out of the Berkeley Hills in the East Bay area of the San Francisco Bay Area in California. In its upper stretch, it passes entirely within the city limits of Berkeley, and marks the city limit with the adjacent city of Albany in its...
by a strong, gusty, and intensely dry
northeasterly windDiablo wind is a relatively recent term for a hot, dry offshore wind from the northeast that typically occurs in the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California during the Spring and Fall. The same wind pattern also affects other parts of California's coastal ranges...
.
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The
1923 Berkeley Fire was a
conflagrationConflagration is an uncontrolled burning that threatens human life, health, property or ecology. A conflagration can be accidentally or intentionally created . Arson can be accomplished for the purpose of sabotage, diversion, and also can be the consequence of pyromania. During conflagration the...
which consumed some 640 structures, including 584 homes in the densely-built neighborhoods north of the campus of the
University of CaliforniaThe University of California is a public university system in the state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University system...
in
Berkeley, CaliforniaBerkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
on September 17, 1923.
Although the exact cause was never determined, the fire began in the undeveloped
chaparralChaparral is a shrubland or heathland plant community found primarily in the U.S. state of California and in the northern portion of the Baja California peninsula, Mexico. It is shaped by a Mediterranean climate and wildfire...
and
grasslandGrasslands are areas where the vegetation is dominated by grasses and other herbaceous plants . However, sedge and rush families can also be found. Grasslands occur naturally on all continents except Antarctica...
s of
Wildcat CanyonWildcat Canyon is a narrow linear valley just east of the Berkeley Hills in the San Francisco Bay Area, situated in Contra Costa County, California. The canyon is bounded on its east side by the San Pablo Ridge, and is drained by Wildcat Creek which runs northwest to its outlet in San Pablo Bay. ...
, just east of the ridgeline of the
Berkeley HillsThe Berkeley Hills are a range of the Pacific Coast Ranges which overlook the northeast side of the valley in which San Francisco Bay is situated...
, and was propelled over the ridge and southwestward just south of
Codornices CreekCodornices Creek is one of the principal creeks which runs out of the Berkeley Hills in the East Bay area of the San Francisco Bay Area in California. In its upper stretch, it passes entirely within the city limits of Berkeley, and marks the city limit with the adjacent city of Albany in its...
by a strong, gusty, and intensely dry
northeasterly windDiablo wind is a relatively recent term for a hot, dry offshore wind from the northeast that typically occurs in the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California during the Spring and Fall. The same wind pattern also affects other parts of California's coastal ranges...
. The fire quickly blew up as it swept through the
La Loma ParkLa Loma Park is the historic name, no longer in common use, of a tract of land located in the Berkeley Hills section of the city of Berkeley, California in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Spanish word loma means "rise/low hill". It was the property of Captain Richard Parks Thomas, a veteran of the ...
and
NorthsideNorthside is a principally residential neighborhood in Berkeley, California, located north of the University of California, Berkeley campus, east of Oxford Street, and south of Cedar Street. There is a small shopping area located at Euclid and Hearst Avenues, at the northern entrance to the...
neighborhoods of Berkeley, overwhelming the capabilities of the Berkeley Fire Department to stop it. 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
OaklandOakland is the eighth-largest city in the U.S. state of California and a major West Coast port city, located on San Francisco Bay about eight miles east of the City of San Francisco. Oakland is a major hub city for the Bay Area subregion collectively called the East Bay, and it is the county seat...
while
San FranciscoSan Francisco is the fourth most populous city in California and the 12th most populous city in the United States, with a 2008 estimated population of 808,976. It is the eighth most densely populated city in the U.S. and is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the larger San...
sent firefighters by
ferrySan Francisco Bay in California has been served by ferries of all types for over 150 years. Although the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge and the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge led to the decline in the importance of most ferries, some are still in use today for both commuters and...
across the bay. The fire was halted when the gusty northeast wind was suddenly stopped by the cool, humid afternoon seabreeze.
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