The East Bay Hills fire Oakland-Berkeley, California (October 19-22, 1991).

The largest dollar fire loss in United States history occurred in the East Bay Hills, within the California cities of Oakland and Berkeley, between October 19 and 22 1991. Twenty-five lives were lost and more than 3,000 structures were destroyed by a wildland-urban interface fire in one of the most heavily populated metropolitan areas of the North America continent. The fire completely overwhelmed the firefighting forces of the area, consuming everything in its path, and was only stopped when the Diablo wind conditions abated. The wind had threatened to drive the fire across the entire City of Oakland. The factors that set the stage for this disaster were identified long before the fire occurred, and the potential consequences had been predicted by fire officials. Nevertheless, their warnings went unheeded, and the measures that could have reduced the risks were not implemented. More than $1 billion in damage resulted from a fire that exceeded the worst expectations of the most concerned fire professionals. It was a fire that demonstrates how natural forces may be beyond the control of human intervention and should cause a renewed look at the risk of wildland-urban interface fire disasters