California fire: At least 7 homes in Oakland damaged [Video]

San Francisco –

A fast-moving fire fed by strong winds burned two homes Friday and damaged several others in a hillside neighborhood in the city of Oakland, where roughly 500 people were ordered to evacuate, officials said.

Fire Chief Damon Covington said that at about 1:30 p.m., calls came in reporting a fire in front of a home in the Oakland hills. Crews arrived as the inferno quickly grew with winds ranging from calm breezes to 40 mph (64 kph) gusts during red flag conditions.

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“Wind was whipping,” Covington said.

Michael Hunt, a spokesperson for the fire department, said one of the homes was significantly burned while the second suffered minor damage from the flames. Fewer than 10 other homes had smoke and water damage. Early reports had conflicting numbers of impacted structures.

The fire was near the 580 Freeway, which connects …