Brush Fire Flares Next to University Village

A brush fire sparked alarm at the western edge of University Village in Albany today, Tuesday, when it began burning the property's fence and got under highly flammable Eucalyptus trees.

The one-alarm fire drew five Albany Fire Department vehicles after it broke out about 1 p.m. between the railroad tracks and the western fence of the sprawling UC Berkeley housing complex, said Albany Fire Lt. Erik Ortenblad.

"It was kind of high action," said a UC employee at the scene. "We moved our cars."

The fire burned next to the rear fence of a university landscape maintenance yard, which contains a building and university vehicles.

The blaze burned about a quarter of an acre and was put out about 2:30 p.m., Ortenblad said.

The cause is under investigation, he said.

One firefighter suffered wasp stings to the head and neck but did not require medical attention, he said. A nest of ground wasps is next to the area that burned.

The damage included burned plastic parts of the metal fence and the part of the fence that had to be taken down so that firefighters could access the site, Ortenblad said.

The remains of a homeless encampment could be seen in the burn area. A UC employee said a homeless person was seen trying to beat down flames with a blanket.

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