The 1923 Berkeley Fire was a conflagration which consumed some 640 structures, including 584 homes in the densely-built neighborhoods north of the campus of the University of California in Berkeley, California on September 17, 1923. For other uses see fire (disambiguation). ... The University of California (UC) is a public university system in the state of California. ... Berkeley is a city on the east shore of San Francisco Bay in northern California, in the United States. ... September 17 is the 260th day of the year (261st in leap years). ... 1923 (MCMXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Although the exact cause was never determined, the fire began in the undeveloped chapparal and grasslands of Wildcat Canyon, just east of the ridgeline of the Berkeley Hills, and was propelled over the ridge and southwestward just south of Codornices Creek by a strong, gusty, and intensely dry northeasterly wind. The fire quickly blew up as it swept through the La Loma Park and Northside neighborhoods of Berkeley, overwhelming the capabilities of the Berkeley Fire Department to stop it. A number of UC students fought the advance of the fire as it approached the north edge of the University of California campus at Hearst Avenue. The other edge of the fire was fought by firefighters as it advanced on downtown Berkeley along the east side of Shattuck Avenue north of University Avenue. Firefighters were rushed in from neighboring Oakland while San Francisco sent firefighters by ferry across the bay. The fire was halted when the gusty northeast wind was suddenly stopped by the cool, humid afternoon seabreeze. Chapparal can also mean a US Army surface to air missile system based on the Sidewinder air-to-air missile system. ... Grasslands are very generally open and continuous, fairly flat area of grass. ... Wildcat Canyon is a narrow linear valley just east of the Berkeley Hills in the San Francisco Bay Area, situated in Contra Costa County. ... The Berkeley Hills are a range of the Pacific Coast Ranges which overlook the northeast side of the valley in which San Francisco Bay is situated. ... Codornices Creek is one of the principal creeks which runs out of the Berkeley Hills in the East Bay area of the San Francisco Bay Area in California. ... Diablo wind is a regional term for the föhn wind that often occurs in the San Francisco Bay Area. ... La Loma Park is the historic name of a tract of land located in the Berkeley Hills section of the city of Berkeley, California in the San Francisco Bay Area. ... Northside is a neighborhood in Berkeley, California; located north of the University of California, Berkeley campus, east of Oxford Street, and south of Cedar Street. ... Downtown Berkeley in the foreground, with San Francisco seen across the Bay. ... Oakland, founded in 1852, is the eighth-largest city in California[1] and the county seat of Alameda County. ... Nickname: The City by the Bay; Fog City Location of the City and County of San Francisco, California Coordinates: Country United States of America State California City-County San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom Area    - City 122 km²  (47 sq mi)  - Land 121. ... San Francisco Bay in California has been served by ferries of all types for over 150 years. ...

See also

• 1991 Oakland firestorm

Infrared aerial photograph of the firestorm. ...

References

• Report on the Berkeley, California Conflagration of September 17, 1923, National Board of Fire Underwriters' Committee on Fire Prevention and Engineering Standards.

External link

• Response of San Francisco Fire Department (SF Virtual Museum)