As the Bay Area moves closer to the July 4th holiday, city leaders are preparing for the likely scenario of the skies above Oakland being filled with illegal fireworks.
Thirty-four years ago, the community had a very real experience with a devastating wildfire, and they’ve been holding their breath ever since. The Oakland Hills Fire in 1991 didn’t happen on July 4th. It was in October. But every year around Independence Day, when the fireworks start blowing up around town, it brings Yuko Matsumoto back to the day she lost her home in the Oakland Hills.
“It brings back that awful memory of ’91,” said Matsumoto. “My neighbor just knocked on the door, and that’s how we learned. We had 15 minutes to get out. It was just an incredible fire. I never seen anything like that. It was so hot.”…