Grand jury report advises improvements to Oakland Hills wildfire evacuations, parking restrictions

OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- Each year, a grand jury reviews citizens' complaints in Oakland and their brand new report on fire management offers suggestions for making evacuations safer, especially up in the hills.

The new grand jury report on Oakland's wildfire preparedness praised the fire department's vegetation management program that's accelerated the removal of trees and brush. But, the summary zeroed in on two areas that need improvement: the enforcement of parking restrictions in high fire risk areas and communication to residents about planned evacuation routes and procedures.

The problem is narrow roads in the hills that require two lanes of flow in emergencies.

"One for incoming first responders and the other one for outgoing residents," said Elizabeth Stage, who is with the Oakland Firesafe Council

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The Oakland Firesafe Council says "No Parking" signs are routinely stolen on streets that have insufficient off street parking. It suggests the creation of red zones, adding curbs.and issuing many more citations.

"We don't have curbs, so why don't we just paint on the roads red. Everybody knows 'red, you can't park here.' That could be an easy fix," Stage said.

Michael Hibt with Oakland Fire said, "We will be enforcing parking violations at a more aggressive rate. In the last couple of years, we've done a lot to limit development in the Oakland Hills to prevent ADUs from being approved in certain neighboring areas that have very tight roads, under 26 feet wide. "

"For red flag days they really should move their car ahead of time and get it off the street," visiting researcher Louise Comfort with UC Berkeley.

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Experts at Cal's Center for Smart Infrastructure say the critical issue is communication.

"It's not just technical information. It's not just scientific information. You really have to build networks of people," Comfort said.

A public safety community meeting to address fire evacuations and fire insurance was held in the Oakland Hills this week.