Creston Firewise is a community of 108 households located in the NE edge of the city of Berkeley, at the very top of the ridge referred to as the Berkeley Hills. It is on the SW shoulder of a large stretch of contiguous wilderness areas, composed of 3 rugged mountain ranges, often wooded, oriented NW to SE, 30 miles long by 20 miles wide, limited in the SW by the coastal plains of the East Bay of San Francisco, in the NW by the North Bay of San Francisco, in the N by Suisun Bay, in the NE and E by the San Joaquin Valley, and in the SE by the Amador and Livermore valleys. This large wilderness area is bisected in its center by the steep, narrow and densely populated San Ramon Valley, also running NW to SE. It has its rough center in Mount Diablo (3,849’).
Our residential community is located at an elevation ranging from 1,000 to 1,100 ft., on a ridge oriented NNW to SSE, within the Wildland Urban Interface on the western edge of Tilden Regional Park (East Bay Regional Park District), dropping steeply on its WSW side towards the Berkeley coastal plain. On its NE side it is two streets away from a steep canyon which is part of Tilden Park. The community is a part of Genasys Protect Emergency Communications Platform Zones BER-E015 and BER-E017. It lies parallel to and uphill from Hayward Fault, at a distance of about 1,400 yards. The Creston Road properties are built on relatively stable and horizontal ground, while those on Forest Lane, Marin Blvd and Grizzly Peak Blvd, sometimes on steep terrain, are more vulnerable to slides.
The community is exposed to fair to strong Westerly winds eight months of the year, and, between late August and early November, to rare Diablo winds from the NE which, on hot and dry days, can create dangerous conditions (these conditions may happen 2 to 4 times a year), since wildfires in the large expanse of wilderness areas N and E of the community could endanger it. The community is within 1,000 ft and uphill from Tilden Park, which includes large belts of uninterrupted eucalyptus trees, in some places a half mile wide or more. A dense eucalyptus grove climbing a steep hill alongside The Spiral connects Tilden Park with Zaytuna College, immediately NE of the community.
Homes are mostly dated to the 1950s through 1980s, with a significant minority older than that, some back to the early 1900s, and a few of more recent construction. Landscaping is mature, typically 50-80 years old, and is often composed of lush green landscapes with dense privacy screens and some tall spreading trees, although some properties are now adopting rock gardens as well as succulent-based landscaping. While some of the homes are powered by underground power cables, a majority obtains their power from 70-year-old utility poles.
There are no cul-de-sacs in the community, which is in immediate proximity of a major evacuation axis, Marin Blvd. All streets of the community are within easy access of Marin Blvd, Grizzly Peak and Creston Rd being fairly large streets by Berkeley Hills standards. Berkeley Fire Station #7 is 0.3 mile and 1 minute away from the intersection of Creston Rd & Grizzly Peak Blvd, access being through large and accessible roadways. Berkeley Fire Station #4 is 1.1 mile and 4 minutes away from the intersection of Marin Blvd and Grizzly Peak Blvd, accessible directly through Marin Blvd. A large EBMUD water tank on Woodhaven Rd, 400 yards from Creston Rd, lies at a base elevation lower by 30 ft, and a large EBMUD reservoir (Summit Reservoir), exactly 1 mile and 4 minutes away, is directly accessible through Grizzly Peak Blvd.
The Creston Firewise community is issued from the Mid-Creston Neighborhood Emergency Preparedness Committee, an organization with a 40-year track record of hosting emergency preparedness talks, earthquakes drills, disseminating fire hardening information, group-sharing emergency equipment caches, and making evacuation plans. Many of the residents have completed City of Berkeley courses in fire safety, search and rescue, and basic first aid.
This proposed Firewise USA Site Community Wildfire Action Plan was developed through input and assessment of Chief Kevin Revilla and wildfire mitigation expert Duncan Allard, both of the Berkeley Fire Department, and in active consultation with approximately 50 homeowners in the community. The goal of this plan is to develop a strategy to incrementally outreach, educate, and implement efforts to make our neighborhood and the surrounding area more fire resilient.