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LAFAYETTE, Calif. (KTVU) - The Rocky Fire is raising concerns about the risk of such a fire occurring in the Bay Area.
Dozens of Bay Area cities are designated as “High Risk” or “High Fire Hazard Zones.”
Despite a solid base of fire agencies, the Bay Area has many serious wildland fire hazards.
Cal Fire has a grim assessment of the dangers. Officials say the closer the hills, the higher the risk, but everyone is at risk.
The reason the Rocky Fire, near Clear Lake, hasn't been a history maker just yet is because the fuel it's consuming is not towns.
But, according to Cal Fire's Jim Crawford, that's just the luck of the draw. "The wildland fire doesn't care about a jurisdiction and it doesn't care whether it's in a city or a very rural part of California," says Chief Crawford.
On Tuesday in the Oakland Hills, the Fire Risk Meter was only halfway up the scale - but that's still extreme danger.
Twenty-four-years ago the Oakland Hills had one of the worst urban fires in U.S. history, and many people don't even know it.
"Absolutely, I have firefighters riding on the engine today, that don't even know what the Tunnel Fire was until we educate them," says the Chief.
The Oakland Hills firestorm killed 25, injured 150 and consumed more than 3,280 homes, condos and apartments.
Crawford helped develop statewide severe fire hazard maps initially to assist fire agencies in coordination of their mutual aid efforts.
The maps are also widely used to set necessary rules and regulations because people insist on living in severe hazard areas.
"Adopting fire codes and having buildings that are in the wildland that have fire resistant materials," says Crawford.
In fact, the maps clearly show where the state's fire suppression responsibilities end, and the city's responsibilities begin.
For Alameda County, that extends all the way south from Berkeley down to Oakland, San Leandro and San Lorenzo.
In fact, 34 Bay Area cities and towns have that problem where the fuel to fan the wildfire would be homes, schools, churches and businesses.