AST August 2018 Magazine Aug 2018 Final (8.14.18) | Page 54

Volume 26
(New aerial photos show the devastation from the Carr fire that killed seven people and
reduced more than 1,000 homes to ash. Courtesy of ABC News and YouTube. Posted on Aug 7,
It then quickly raced into high-end new residential
subdivisions such as Lake Redding Estates, where
it destroyed 65 upscale homes.
The Augus
deadly
1991
2018 Edition
Oakland Hills Fire,
which started in
a back yard on
Buckingham Bou-
levard, consumed
2.5 square miles of
mostly residential
neighborhoods,
claiming 25 lives
and almost 3,500
homes.
Fires had rav-
aged the same area three times
earlier in the century.
Last year’s Tubbs Fire, triggered by
a downed power line in rural Sono-
ma County, sprinted across the
hillside luxury enclave of Fountain-
grove, destroying 1,519 homes.
The former ranchland, developed over
the past three decades as a community
for local CEOs, attorneys, doctors, judges
and wine industry executives, has burned
to the ground twice in 53 years.
Amid controversy, city officials have
adopted a full-speed-ahead approach
to rebuilding, prioritizing their build-
ing permits, waiving fees and broaden-
ing staff authority to approve permits
swiftly, according to the local newspa-
per, the Press Democrat.
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