Document Archives

Observations from the Oakland Hills Fire

• ID:

  50

• ESCSI:

  3220.009

• Author:

  Kluver, Mark

• Publication Name:

  Building Standards

• Type of Publication:

  Article

• Publisher:

  Intern. Conference of Building Officials

• Dated:

  1992

• Issue/Volume:

  March/April

• Other ID:

• Page(s):

  4-9

• Reference List:

  N

• Abstract:

  The National Fire Protection Association annually publishes comprehensive statistics of property losses from fire. The association’s most recent data show that fire loss to one- and two-family dwellings was approximately $3.5 billion in 1990. Based on early estimates, the property loss from the Oakland Hills fire could reach $1.5 billion. To put this in perspective, this fire will have produced losses equal to more than 40 percent of the total fire loss to one- and two-family dwellings in the United States for the entire previous year. These figures, however, can not begin to adequately portray the amount of human suffering endured when over 5,000 residents lost all of their possessions and their homes.