Extra

Berkeley Hills fire partly contained

Jeff Shuttleworth (BCN)
Wednesday August 02, 2017 - 02:25:00 PM

A two-alarm vegetation fire in the East Bay hills is still burning but has been partially contained, Moraga-Orinda Fire District Fire Chief Stephen Healy said.

Healy said the fire, which was reported at about 1:05 p.m., is burning on 5 to 6 acres in the vicinity of Grizzly Peak Boulevard and South Park Drive in Contra Costa County and on land owned by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

However, Oakland Fire Battalion Chief Melinda Drayton said the fire is in the area of Grizzly Peak Boulevard and Fish Ranch Road in Oakland.

Drayton said no structures are in danger, there haven't been any evacuations and no one has been injured. 

Healy said firefighters from Oakland, Berkeley, the East Bay Regional Park District, Cal Fire, Moraga-Orinda and El Cerrito are battling the fire. 

University of California at Berkeley police said a number of roads east of the main campus have been closed because of the fire, which it said is located north of South Park Drive and east of Grizzly Peak Boulevard . UC police said Grizzly Peak Boulevard is closed between Centennial Drive and South Park Drive and other roads in the area may be closed as needed. 

They advised the public to avoid the area to allow crews to respond to the fire. 

UC police also said the university's Botanical Garden at 200 Centennial Drive has closed for the day. 

In addition, UC police said that because of the fire, PG&E is requiring transformers to be shut down as soon as possible and power has been lost across the campus. 

Police advised people at the university to shut down all electronic devices by 2:40 p.m. and not to use elevators until power is restored.