OAKLAND — The day after flames nearly engulfed Pamela Jordan’s Oakland hills home, it finally hit her how close she was to losing the place she worked four jobs to afford and raised two daughters in alone.

She and a friend were sewing new curtains Friday when Jordan realized the sky had gone dark. A peek out the window revealed gray plumes of smoke were blotting out the sun and flames were threatening her home.

Her fight-or-flight response kicked in. Jordan found herself scrambling to protect her loved ones, including her niece and a small baby who were visiting that day, collect her valuables and get ready to stay with friends or family if necessary.

She was one of 500 residents evacuated as more than 200 firefighters from the Oakland Fire Department, CalFire and around the region battled the blaze through the night, reaching 50% containment by midmorning Saturday. About 70 firefighters remained on the scene late Saturday, tamping down hot spots and clearing charred trees and brush.

Oakland firefighters extinguished the fire in a house during a five-alarm vegetation fire on Maynard Avenue and Moutain Boulevard in the Oakland Hills on Friday, Oct. 18, 2024. Crews stopped the forward progress of the blaze by 3:50 p.m. after it burned 13 acres. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group) 

Calm replaced sheer panic as Jordan waited to learn whether firefighters would save her home or if 17 years of memories would be wiped away.

“I sat out on the ledge and just watched. You’re in shock,” Jordan said. “I never thought it would happen to me.”

After waiting on Keller Avenue for hours, Jordan was one of the few lucky ones who was able to return home Friday evening. Her night was spent in worry as she listened to trees crack and fall, unsure of whether one would land on her home.

Thanks to the work of about 200 firefighters from all over the region, Jordan’s home remained standing Saturday afternoon. Her power had been restored earlier that morning and she was able to charge her phone and answer calls from worried family and friends.

“Firemen were running in and animals were running out,” Jordan said. “Somebody had to do it and they did it and they did a hell of a job.”

But the anxiety of the day before lingered, Jordan said. Like the Oakland-Berkeley hills fire of 1991, she knew weather conditions could cause hot spots to reignite.

“I’m OK, but then again I’m not because we’re not out of the woods yet,” Jordan said.

Friday’s fire came a day shy of the 33rd anniversary of that devastating fire that killed 25 people, injured 150 others and destroyed more than 3,400 homes. That fire had initially started out small. Firefighters left the area, believing they’d extinguished the blaze, only for the winds to pick up and tragedy to ensue.

A man evacuates with his dogs as firefighters battle a five-alarm fire on Maynard Avenue in the Oakland Hills on Friday, Oct. 18, 2024. Crews stopped the forward progress of the blaze by 3:50 p.m. after it burned 13 acres. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group) 

Lessons appear to have been learned since 1991. Fire Chief Damon Covington said during a press briefing Saturday that a fire apparatus had been pre-positioned to monitor the hills, a county strike team had been assembled and prepared to deploy at the early start of a fire, and agencies across the region were prepared also to respond quickly.

“There are definitely some similarities to the 1991 fire. One of the biggest differences that we have, though. is that we have prepared for days like this,” Covington said. “We had a little bit more preparation because we’ve learned from those fires that we’ve had throughout the last several years, as well as the 1991 fire, of the level of preparation that’s required.”

The department was also holding off on allowing residents to return home, Covington said. An update on a return plan was scheduled to occur Saturday evening, he said.

PG&E crews are inspecting street by street, home by home, with the goal of allowing residents to return home by the end of the day, the Oakland Fire Department’s spokesman, Mike Hunt, said.

Heavy winds and burning embers could reverse what progress firefighters have made containing the blaze and force people to be evacuated, Covington said.

“We’re working as efficiently as we possibly can. We have to do it in a safe way so we don’t have to ask people to leave again,” Covington said.

A total of six Oakland Fire Department and five CalFire crews were still on scene fighting the blaze Saturday and Alameda County hand crews were cutting down damaged trees that risk toppling onto houses.

“While the fire is contained, it’s not extinguished so we have a lot of work to do,” Covington said. “We just ask for patience. I know it’s a trying time for everyone living in that community.”

Oakland firefighters battle a four alarm fire on Mountain Boulevard and Maynard Avenue in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, Oct. 18, 2024. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group) 

About 13 acres and two homes burned before crews stopped forward progress on the fire about 3:30 p.m. Friday. The flames broke out shortly before 1:30 p.m. in the area of Mountain Boulevard and Maynard Avenue, near Interstate 580.

Hundreds were evacuated from along Altura Place, Campus Drive, Crystal Ridge Court and Rifle Lane, according to fire officials. Officials halted further evacuations about 9:30 p.m. but an evacuation order was still active for affected areas late Saturday morning, officials said.

Nenita Tadeo, whose home neighbors one of the burned homes, said she was “one of those stubborn people” who opted not to evacuate Friday.

Instead, she and her husband, with support from her daughter and her boyfriend, spent the evening trying to save their home by spraying down their property with a garden hose.

Aside from some charring on the side and rear fences, the place she’s called home since 1996 went unscathed. Like Jordan, she knows not to let her guard down, but for now, she’s thankful.

“I feel relief now because my house is untouched,” Tadeo said. “Praise God, really.”