On July 4th 2020, your Oakland Firefighters responded to hundreds of calls for service and fought dozens of fires in the town.
Above is a video of a large crowd at Lakeshore Ave and Brooklyn Ave delaying 10 Engine’s response to an emergency. Thankfully, the cool headed crew was patient with a crowd that was jumping, dancing and banging on the fire engine and no one was seriously hurt, but our inability to respond to emergencies when we are needed most is distressing.
We recognize the variables of our current reality are broad and complex, but the lack of social distancing amidst a surging pandemic and the amount of illegal fireworks in the middle of wildfire season are extremely concerning. Most of the fires we responded to yesterday were caused by illegal fireworks and in a few weeks some of our exposures to Covid 19 will stem from yesterday’s recklessness.