Oakland Tribune from Oakland, California • 1

1 7 Si ttf- --liityorv Cal prepares for Axe by crushing ASU Spokes A. lgkW ra 'Hu Bargains in Europe during off-season Travel AtFOUTZtRlPRIZElVyiNNINCfNEWSPJVRER EDITION OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA fpMsnyMsrvfs Robert J. tape Oakland police and firefighter trying to follow the citys evacuation plan during the Oct SO fire were so hopelessly outrun by the Inferno exploding across the hills, they were unable to rescue some people trapped In their homes or slot others to danger, according to radio tran-sdpts and officials. METSO lowed police and fire officials to better determine the path of the blaze and which neighborhoods to evacuate. Police dispatchers who were stationed miles from the scene, could not get a fix on the rapidly moving fire and thus at times couldn't tell terrified callers whether to evacuate, or what routes would lead to safety, according to the police radio tapes.

Police and firefighters trying to evacuate residents also often found themselves trapped as the fire roared through neighborhoods, the tapes show. The Oakland police chief, who is in charge of the evacuation, and the city's cable TV company, which was trying to broadcast evacuation alerts, -were both given an informational phone number by the fire department that turned out to be disconnected. And there was confusion over whether a fire official's call to There also were breakdowns In communication that day, which added to the confusion and hampered the evacuation, according to the tapes released last week and interviews with officials: A warning by fire officials' about the dangerous fire condU-tlons the morning of the blase was not communicated to police helicopter units. That delayed getting aerial recoonaisance of the scene that might have al NEVV TRAIN STATION FULL STEAM AHEAD 3 'VS; implement an evacuation plan for the hills was communicated to radio dispatchers at the police department, which is in charge of carrying out evacuations. But even if tboee problems had not occurred, officials said, it probably wouldnt have saved the lives of any of the 85 people who died in the most of whom perished in the first hour of the inferno and near where it started.

-That fire moved 100 yards in Huge The i y- NEW ORLEANS Democrat Edwin Edwards beat tamer Ku KluxKlan leader David Duke in a landslide yesterday, reclaiming the governorship he had lost in disgrace. The election riveted national attention on Louisiana, many voters saw the contest as a tragic choice between a racist and a rogue. With percent of precincts reporting, Edwards had or 61 percent, to Duke's 678,652 votes, or 39 per- cent Turnout set a record for a Louisiana election nearly 71 percent of the states 2J million -voters Duke, a Republican state representative, was repudiated by most state and national GOP leaders. Including President Bush, because of his white supre- macist In addition to leading the Klan, he at one time publicly embraced IjrlsrtfiMbr NEW YORK Investors lit up phone lines yesterday at mutual fund operators and stockbrokers, the day after the Dow Jones industrial average plummeted 120 points, but there was little panic. What people are doing, three to one, is just inquiries on quotesT checking in on their accounts.

Were not seeing moves to sell," said Marsha Sawyer, a spokes-. woman for Fidelity ments, the nations largest mutual fund concern. She said investors apparently are not as spooked by a severe drop in the Dow as they were during the market crash of Octo- her 1987 and the Mg drop of Oc- toberl989. People are more used to seeing downturns every once In a while, she Hid. However, calls to Fidelity ran about 25 percent above normal yesterday and the company added 100 operators.

Customer calls also rose at See DOW, Pege A-13 SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 1991 15 seconds. The police did the best they could under the circumstances," said Paul Kirsch, Oaklands emergency planning coordinator. 'Those people Were caught in an 'area Probably a couple of hundred acres took off all at once, said Hayward Fire Chief Mike Bradley, who was i with a mutual aid fire strike team that responded to the blaze See TAPES, Page A-17 Gev.Edwia Edwards Wine fourth term ideology. Edwards, claiming victory before' jubilant supporters at his. headquarters, declared: "Tonight, Louisiana became first, --See LOUIS1ASA, Page A-13 ADDAMS FAMILY A delightfully ghoulish film is on Its way.

Weather PARTLY CLOUDY Showers possible by. late afternoon. Highs In 50s. A-S Index i vr NEWS A BUSINESS v. SPORTS.

TRAVEL r.D REAL COMICS PARADE -SUNDAY MAGAZINE 7-DAY LISTING TV BOOK i.tO-D Commentary Si ack. Bob Maynard. 7...... Metro CUff Pletschet Monte Poole Craig Steals WMthar 'M. CALL THE TRIBUNE: 845-2000 vain 2 Tto Tribune (Af rlgMi rwenwS nearby' AC Transit bus berths and a 250-' space parking lot across Alice Street On the site of what was once an Oakland Tribune "We don't think itTan Impossible time" frame," said planning manager Rick erhorn.

Tt8 ambitious but its not impossi- Me. The port plans to complete preliminary environmental impact work by Thanksgiving and open the public comment period for the proposed twoetory station before seeking port commission approval. If no major problems crop up, the station could be operating by mid-IMS, Wled-erhornsaid. A port-owned warehouse now on the 3.5-acre site would be demolished to make way for the station, which would be oriented either along or across Alice Street A pedestrian bridge over the tracks and Embarcad-ero would connect to Jack London Square. The station would have baggage facilities, ticket offices and a waiting area, with motivation je simpteLure passengers which in an era of may increase in number who more isolated 16th and Wood intd'Jack London Square and hope a badlyHieeded infusion of dollars.

that as a real help to stimulate down there and the Christengfcn of CommercfcTt will also bring to the main part of town. We real positive for Oakland and h. HE PORT OF OAKLAND is shift-' lag into high gear on plans for a new 16 million Amtrak station at Jack London Square that targets the wallets of rail travelers from far off points like Seattle and Chicago. -The port has quietly laid the roadbed for the environmental certifications and business community support needed for the new depot, slated to replace the historic but quake-damaged train station at 16th and Wood streets. But the ports timetable is tightening.

Environmental impact assessment studies must be completed by February, or the port risks losing state funding that is all but lined up to pay for the new station at Em-barcadero and Alice Street See AMTRAK, Page A-U Jt In the last five yean the city has been forced to pay Judgments and court costs of at least $375,000 in cases resulting from charges of police brutality or sexual haraument within the police department. Is 1987. shocked memben of the county Human Rights Commission called for an investigation into the continuing allegations of police misconduct, but were blocked by the board of warehouse, downtown. talized by the predominantly white police department Once you cron the bridge or go through the tube youre in a different world, raid Darrell Hampton, a black Oakland resident, who was punched by an Oakland policeman in a well-publicized incident last year that resulted in the officers suspension. "I don't feel comfortable there and none of my friends do either.

inwM, The ports the rail rail revival now use the station they provide We see the hotels said John Chamber of Amtrak closer it as a fb fc- racism. he said. The deep racial divisions that lay just below the. surface were brought Into sharp focus this month by revelations that wMte police officers used the city's mobile computer system to transmit racist messages. Black residents of Alameda and nearby (communities say' they dont feel welcome here.

They uy blacks and members of other minority groups are fra-quently harassed and even bru ByKMSnrder end Yeamin Amur The quiet, tree-lined streets of Alameda seemed like the per-' feet refuge from the crime and violence that James Lester had pome to hate in Oakland. -But Lester, one of the many black people to move across the channel in the last 10 years, found something else. "There is a problem in this communitv. and the problem is Police Chief Robert Shlells, xwho has headed the department for 11 years, uys the number of lawsuits is minimal" and maintains that racism is not a problem on the force. Offlcen don't care about this race crap.

Black, white, there Is' only one color and thats blue," he uid during an interview. Although the city has changed Set RACISM, Pege A-17 i. ns..