East Bay island fire forces out residents

A brush fire ignited Monday morning on a remote island near Oakley, prompting several residents to evacuate by ferryboat.

The blaze is burning on Bradford Island, a 2,172acre private island located near Oakley in the SacramentoSan Joaquin River Delta inhabited by fewer than a dozen fulltime residents.

As of midmorning Monday, the fire was about half out, but one section was still burning aggressively — and the landowners were on their own in fighting it, said Rob Davies, Board President of the Bradford Island Reclamation District.

Crews from the East Contra Costa Fire Protection District responded to the call around 2:30 a.m. and assisted with evacuations and protecting life safety.

As of Monday morning, the fire had reportedly burned 212

acres and at least six homes, according to fire officials and the reclamation district. Residents who chose to stay were fighting the fire with rented water trucks and trying to siphon water onto the island to flood it with water, Davies said.

Steve Aubert, public information officer for the East Contra Costa Fire Protection District, said it’s unclear how the fire started, but that the blaze was burning in an area rife with peat dirt, which is composed of dead and dying debris and material. Much of the island is used for agriculture and ranching operations.

No injuries or deaths were reported by Monday morning. The fire has now been turned over to the Bradford Island Reclamation District, Aubert said.

Only three residents chose to be evacuated off the island by ferryboat, but the rest chose to stay, Aubert said, adding that since the island is outside of the East Contra Costa Fire District, the district can only assist up to a certain point.

“With us being the closest resource, we’ll go assist with lifesaving emergencies, but that’s all we can do,” said Aubert.

Davies said aside from help from the district engineer, several board members and employees, landowners were mostly on their own in trying to fight the blaze.

“We’ve had to do it before,” he said.

In 2010, a blaze broke out on the island, prompting 15 people to evacuate off the island and residents to fight the fire themselves, with hoses, tractors and a single water truck, according to the East Bay Times. The fire caused an estimated $675,000 in property damages.

Davies said part of what is fueling the fire aggressively are the Himalayan blackberry bushes all over the island, which burn quickly because of how much oil they contain.