Twenty years ago today, a brushfire spread through the Oakland Hills, fueled by strong winds and dense vegetation made extremely flammable by a dry summer, reported a team of reporters in a lengthy feature in Oakland North.

Fighting the wildfire was hampered by steep and narrow roads, houses with wood-shingle roofs, a restricted water supply, and fire hydrants that were incompatible with neighboring cities’ trucks. The wildfire, which burned for almost 72 hours, took 25 lives, devastated over a thousand acres of land, and destroyed more than 3,500 homes.

Oakland now requires all new Oakland...