Latest news with #BerkeleyFireDepartment
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Proud to Serve: Berkeley Firefighter and Paramedic receives $500 for years of service
ST. LOUIS – Each month on FOX 2, we proudly salute local first responders, military personnel, and veterans who go above and beyond in service to their communities. This month, we shine the spotlight on Nick Meisenheimer, a dedicated firefighter and paramedic with the Berkeley Fire Department in Berkeley, Missouri. Nick's commitment to his community extends far beyond emergency response. As a member of the Community Outreach Board, he works tirelessly to connect with residents and ensure they feel supported and informed. Whether he's responding to calls or engaging with neighbors through outreach initiatives, Nick exemplifies what it means to serve with heart and purpose. Thank you, Nick, for your bravery, compassion, and unwavering dedication. We're proud to recognize you as this month's Proud to Serve honoree. Nick was nominated by his wife who tells us Nick is so selfless. He is on the community outreach board at the Berkeley fire department, and helped organize a coat drive for the students in the Berkeley community who may otherwise not have a warm coat. He spent countless hours shopping around the area for coats, and coordinated the organization and delivery. On top of that, during the holiday season he worked with local organizations or their local offices like Amazon, Clayco, SSM, Boys to Mentors, and more to coordinate a Christmas with toys and clothes for three individual families who lost their homes in the city of Berkeley in December before Christmas. He continues to focus on providing the citizens of Berkeley with help, and most recently has been working to help find reliable housing for a family with a disabled child after they lost their home in a fire. Day in and day out, he gets up and serves his community willingly. Nick Meisenheimer receives $500 from Brown & Brown Law Firm and FOX 2's Proud to Serve Award. If you would like to nominate a 1st responder, military or veteran, click here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Berkeley city council advances defensible space ordinance
BERKELEY, Calif. (KRON) — The City of Berkeley is stepping up efforts to protect property and lives during wildfire season. A new ordinance advanced by the city council this week would require some residents to clear five feet of defensible space around their homes. During a wind-driven fire event, embers blowing ahead of the main fire can start new fires. This ordinance aims to keep additional homes from catching fire. Prediction of 'major earthquake' on anniversary of Great San Francisco Earthquake not credible, experts say This week, the Berkeley City Council advanced a measure known as 'Zone 0,' a new ordinance that would require some property owners to clear all flammable material five feet away from their homes. That could include trees, shrubs, grass, plastics, vehicles — basically, anything that could catch fire. That 5-foot defensible space will make a difference, officials say. Collin Arnold is an interim assistant chief with the Berkeley Fire Department. He says five feet of defensible space would slow a wildfire down enough to allow firefighters to do their jobs. By reducing the number of houses that ignite, firefighters can do their job of going from house to house and making sure they can get in front of the ones that do ignite. The new ordinance currently applies to about 850 homes in two parts of the city: the Panoramic Hill neighborhood above the Cal campus, and a strip of homes east of Grizzly Peak boulevard. Assistant Chief Arnold cites this home as a good example of what needs to be done but says that this ordinance will work best if everyone is onboard. 'This is going to be effective if everybody does it,' he said, 'where everyone is pulling together to make everyone safer.' The ordinance will be heard by the city council a second time next month. If passed, the new rules would kick in on Jan. 1, 2026. Homeowners who then fail to comply with the ordinance could face fines of up to $500 a day for each violation. Now homeowners would be allowed to keep some potted plants next to their homes as long as they are spaced out. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Predawn fire destroys longtime Berkeley media center
The Brief An early-morning fire destroyed East Bay Media Center in downtown Berkeley. The Center has been Berkeley institution for decades. The cause of the fire is under investigation. Berkeley - An early-morning fire destroyed the East Bay Media Center, a decades-old Berkeley institution. The fire broke out at about 3:15 a.m. near Milvia and Addison streets downtown, just blocks from UC Berkeley, and forced the evacuation of nearby apartment buildings filled with students. "I see the window is very orange, and I'm like, 'This isn't usually how it looks at this time of day,'" said Subhash Prasad, who was among those evacuated. "I thought it was, like, a campfire." What we know Battalion Chief Brian Harryman of the Berkeley Fire Department said firefighters had a number of challenges on-scene. "There was a heavy fire load inside the building. It was a media center, so lots of tapes, lots of computer systems," Harryman said. "It was very difficult to get to, and about halfway through the fire we had the roof collapse, which made it even more difficult to get to the back half of the building." The all-clear came at about 7:30 a.m. There were no reported injuries, but smoke and flames damaged the sides of surrounding buildings. The backstory The media center specializes in film transfer and duplication, equipment rentals, teen media training and consultations. "I'm in shock at this point because the media center was founded by the community," said co-founder Paul Blake, who helped start the media center in the '80s in part to document the Democratic National Convention. "It was devastating," Blake said. "We've lost so much. We lost archival material, as well as technical and electronic material." The city recognized the media center for restoring this building, and now the structure is red-tagged. "This is a really hard loss," said Berkeley City Councilmember Igor Tregub, who represents downtown and stands ready to support the media center. "As a native of Ukraine, the importance of free and fair media reporting live coverage in an honest way is more important to me now than ever before," Tregub said. Maureen O'Shea stopped to take a look at the aftermath. She says she's visited the center a number of times while visiting her son, including to get film transferred onto CDs. "It's when you look at a kid and see the tooth lost," O'Shea said. "It's something that was important here, people congregated to. It's what gives this place some flavor, gives Berkeley some flavor." Henry Lee is a KTVU reporter. E-mail Henry at and follow him on Twitter @henrykleeKTVU and The Source Interviews, Berkeley Fire Department
