Alameda County Fire reports 20-call backlog, nearly 300 calls during high wind event

CASTRO VALLEY, Calif. (KGO) -- One after the other 12 homes and at least 30 residents on Heyer Avenue in Castro Valley were evacuated.

"The wind picked up and it was kind of scary how fast it picked up," said Castro Valley resident Tina Frey.

Several trees around the Frey family's home were knocked off by strong winds. One of the branches landing on top of this car trapping the driver inside.

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Winds were so heavy today that 4 eucalyptus 's fell on Heyer Avenue in Castro Valley.

One of the trees landed on top of a car and trapped the driver inside. A neighbor ran to help the driver.

Shan Yu's ran to pick up her parents.

"When they called me I don't think they were scared, but it was kind of a shock. The big tree fell," said Yu.

Alameda County Fire firefighters responded to several calls from this Heyer Avenue around 3:50pm. When they arrived, they found approximately 15 large trees that collapsed onto the road and nine live powerlines.

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"But we are concerned with homes adjacent to the fallen eucalyptus because there are still several, tall hundred-foot plus trees to the rear of the structure," said Alameda County Fire Department Battalion Chief, Tom Pappas.

As the winds picked up, another tree fell and damaged a water pipe.

"What's happening now is that with that water supply break it's undermining the soil and weaken the root of the eucalyptus," said Pappas.

With the possibility of more trees falling around Heyer Avenue evacuations continued throughout the day. PG&E secured the downed power lines as Alameda County Fire firefighters drove to multiple calls around the area.

"What has happened is that when wires would come down they would start a small vegetation fire. At one point we had 20 calls backlogged with companies unable to respond because everybody was busy," said Pappas.

According to Alameda County Fire, Heyer Avenue will be closed and power will be out until tomorrow morning/mid-afternoon.

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