5th International Disaster and Risk Conference IDRC 2014 Integrative Risk Management - The role of science, technology & practice 24-28 August 2014 in Davos, Switzerland

1. Roles and achievements of
neighborhood association after
1991 Eastbay fire and their
sustainability
Chiho Ochiai
Visiting Scholar at IURD, UC Berkeley, USA
Assistant Professor at
Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies,
Kyoto University, Japan

2. Main Points I’ll cover
 1991 East Bay Fire
• Location
• Outline of the Fire
 What are roles and achievements of
Neighborhood organization?
• Networking people
• Public voice to the government
• Story tellers for the next generation
 What’s coming next?
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• Wildland-urban interface
• Mobile society in urban settings

3. Location of the Study site
San Francisco Bay Area
1991 Burned Area

4. Outline of 1991 Eastbay fire
• October 19th, 1991 the fire
started in the east hillside of
Oakland city
• One of largest fires in US history
• Diablo wind + cold winter
• Summary of disaster：
Death 25, Affected 2,526 people
Area of burn 760ha
Houses burned 2,843 unites
Total damage 1.5 million USD

5. One Sunday afternoon,
when I open the window, sky was orange.
Sky was covered by smoke and it was dark.

6. Source：SF Gate, Photo by Brant Ward, The Chronicle

7. After of fire

9. Burnt Area

10. Method
 Reviewing Newsletters of Phoenix Association
Year Issues Pages Year Issues Pages
1992 7 53 2004 4 24
1993 5 35 2005 4 24
1994 4 28 2006 4 30
1995 4 28 2007 4 30
1996 2 14 2008 4 30
1997 3 14 2009 3 21
1998 3 17 2010 1 7
1999 2 15 2011 2 14
2000 3 21 2012 2 10
2001 3 17 2013 0 0
2002 4 30 2014 1 7
2003 4 28 Total 73 497
 Interviewing leaders, attending meetings
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• Activities and achievements
• Changes and current issues

12. North Hill Phoenix Association
 Establishment
• Soon after 1991 Fire with Neighbors gathered together
• Steering Committee and Sub-Committee structure
 Area covered
• 1,500 residences in North Hills area
 Activity
• Monthly or by-monthly meeting
• Public awareness in fire prevention
• Gathering information, informing by newsletter/Web
• Started many annual activities (veg. management,
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picnic, memorial walk, neighborhood watch, etc)
• Support other groups and organizations
• Lobbying the city

13. Activities over time
Headline/
Topics
First 5
years
6-10 years 11-15
years
16-22
years
Total
Undergrounding utility 12 0 0 0 12
Explanation of NHPA 8 0 0 2 10
Insurance 8 6 1 0 15
Parking restriction 5 0 6 1 12
Foundation removal 5 0 0 0 5
New fire station on the
5 5 0 0 10
hill (Station 7)
Landslide 3 5 4 0 12
Drainage 0 5 1 10 16
Development 1 5 2 0 8
Open forum 0 0 10 3 13
PENS 0 0 8 5 13
Trail 0 1 7 0 8
4th Bore tunnel 0 1 6 7 14
Wildfire prevention
district
0 0 7 7 14
Crime prevention 0 1 2 10 13
Neighborhood group 1 2 0 5 8
CORE 2 1 4 4 11

14. Changes of Name and Activities over time
Oct.1991
1991
Fire
NHPA
established
2010
(15 yrs)
2014
(present)
Renamed
NHCA
2001
(10 yrs)
Rebuilding
Re-Establishing
Community
- Crime prevention
- Tunnel development
- Creek protection
- Trail
- Drainage
- Illegal Parking
1996
(5 yrs)
Community
enhancement
- Undergrounding
Utility
- Foundation removal
- Design review
- Zoning
- Insurance
- Vegetation
Management
- New development
- Landslide
- Drainage
- Community gathering
- Community Policing
- Fire prevention
- Disaster Preparedness
- Communication utility

15. Changes of the Committees over time
1992 2008
Category Committee Category Committee
Rebuilding Undergrounding
utilities
Disaster
preparedness
Fire prevention
Street widening Emergency
preparedness
New firehouse Landscaping,
Safety/crime
prevention
Drainage
Architectural/
Design Review
Open space
Insurance Watching Public safety
Cooperative
Publicity and
purchasing
management
Administration
Public safety
Landscaping/
vegetation
Landscaping/Vegetat
ion management
Civil Involvement
Security Security Communication
Publicity Newsletter/publicity Fund raising

16. Problem solving processes of NHPA
Discussed in steering
committee
Decisions and measures of sub-committee
are reported and
discussed
Measures, approaches are
decided
Back up by NHPA
Continue monitoring,
conducting activities,
awareness raising for
members/neighbors
Monitoring at
sub-committee
Local Government
Related Authorities
Issues are raised by member
Discussed in sub-committee
Issues are discussed in the sub-committee.
Measures, approaches are
decided
Self /group investigation to
make an evidence
Call for more information
Requesting
measures
Approach to issues
Information Sharing
Collecting
information/Data
Conducting activities
Appealing to public
Lobbying
Monitoring
Reported on newsletter,
website, etc.,
Ask for support of members
Reported on newsletter,
website, etc.,
Form new
sub-committee
Solution
Solution
Monitoring
Reorting

17. Roles and Accomplishments of NHPA
 Networking residents who were affected by the fire
 Accumulating the knowledge and experiences in
several subjects and holds human resources
 Implementing actual projects and improved living
environment and safety of the hills
(undergrounding utility, Fire suppression district, etc.)
 Establishing a co-working & trust relationship with the
City and other related authorities
(Representing at the Task force, city committee, etc.)
 Continuing their activities/organization by making
adjustments (bylaw, committees), dealing with current
issues and involving new members

18. What we can learn from this case study?
 Roles & Processes of a neighborhood-based Group
• Neighborhood-Location based (↑local capacity)
• Built up relationship among residents and authorities
• Established the organizational structure/mechanism
• Expanded and shifted their activities according to local
needs
⇒ What’s now??
• Population ageing, new residents occupy the area
• Urban mobile society
• Vegetation went back like before
• People’s memory fade out as city’s program decrease
Organized community group is effective in all stages
Hand down memories & warnings to new generation
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19. Possibility of Wild-urban Interface Fire