Start Here!
If you only view one video on this page, take the time to look at Beyond the Ashes—24 minutes of interviews made a few weeks after the 1991 Firestorm and then 10 months later. Produced by Berkeley Mental Health, Beyond the Ashes showcases fire survivors Janine Brown, Mikki and Jerry Baer, David Kessler, Joe Wong and Emeryville firefighter John Havenhill, who share their shock, fears and hopes after the devastation of the 1991 Firestorm. The film was directed and edited by Rosina Linz Berkeley Mental Health, funded by FEMA, California Department of Mental Health and Alta Bates Medical Center, 1992. (24 minutes)
You can also Listen to the podcast from cityside, released with the article Listen: Remembering the 1991 Oakland-Berkeley Firestorm. It is a podcast produced to look back at the historic blaze that forever changed how the East Bay looks at wildfires. (30 minutes)
1991 Firestorm Reflections: Personal Stories
NHCA is all about community and we are proud to welcome you to our Community Comeback: Then and Now video page. Comeback from what? For those new to the North Hills Community Assoc., you may not know that our neighborhood group grew out of folks coming together in the wake of the 1991 firestorm in the Oakland / Berkeley hills. News of current wildfires raging, the toll that the pandemic has taken on our neighbors, plus the anniversary of the Oct. ’91 fires on the horizon led NHCA to create an online place to share stories about that tragic firestorm, to find information to keep safe in future emergencies, and to promote NHCA gatherings that bring us together – our Community Comeback.We are honored to be sharing new reflections weekly in August, September, and October 2021.