Oakland Zoo evacuated due to nearby fire; illegal fireworks keep firefighters busy over weekend
OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- It has been a busy 24 hours for Oakland firefighters. Friday night's big warehouse fire was followed by a series of other fires -- many related to illegal fireworks.
Oakland firefighters were quick to respond to fire burning near the Oakland Zoo late Saturday afternoon.
"The fire did very quickly jump over 580, and then started on the 98th Avenue and came up over the hill to the zoo," said Battalion Chief Ryan Meineke with the Oakland Fire Department.
Zoo officials say they get about 4,000 visitors at the zoo on a busy weekend... like the fourth of July. Just a couple of hundred were at the zoo, since it was almost closing time. But, they were evacuated out of an abundance of caution. The fire never reached the zoo's 100-acre property.
VIDEO: Illegal fireworks light up sky in Oakland
"We have security on staff, we have out teams here on staff. We turned on our sprinklers, close to this fire, just to make sure, in case it jumped again. Obviously to be protecting our animals, which is critical," say Nik Dehejia with the CEO of the Oakland Zoo.
Meineke says fire crews have been staging all weekend. That's what helped them get there quickly. Forward progress on was stopped within an hour.
"It absolutely helps. We up staff on days like this. Not only red flag days, but Fourth of July and on other special, bigger, more risky events. We've got two of those engines that we upstaff right here on this fire as we speak," Meineke said.
The zoo is safe, but the rest city was lit up late Friday night and into Saturday morning, according to Meineke. The Oakland Fire Department responded to 295 calls, one-third were related to fires.
MORE: At least 100 fires, several injuries caused by illegal fireworks on July 4 in Contra Costa Co.
A duplex on 78th Avenue near International Boulevard was damaged by illegal fireworks and killed two dogs.
The fire department says several people were hospitalized overnight, linked to all the illegal fireworks activity.
"I think we had 60-something fire calls through the night, throughout the entire city. We were going nonstop from East Oakland to West Oakland. The fireworks were very bad, the illegal fireworks," Meineke said.
