Firestorm: 72 Hours in Oakland (1993)

Based on the actual events of the 1991 brush fires that swept across Northern California which left countless people without homes. A rookie fire chief who just started his new job must deal with the raging fires.

Director:

Michael Tuchner

Writer:

John McGreevey

Stars:

Jill Clayburgh, LeVar Burton, Keith Coulouris

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jill Clayburgh	...	Anneliese Osborn
LeVar Burton	...	Fire Chief J. Allan Mather
Keith Coulouris	...	Jerry Osbourne
Galyn Görg	...	Denise Kukuczka
Keone Young	...	Gerald Chong
Jodi Long	...	Linda Chong
Frances Lee McCain	...	Flo
Richard Yniguez	...	Captain Deluna
Michael Gross
Karen Kahn	...	Vi Deluna
Abigail Van Alyn	...	Angry Woman
Tiffany Loui	...	Stephanie Chong
Roger Bearde	...	Mayor
Tracy O'Neil Heffernan	...	Judy
Sarah Lundy	...	Susie

Storyline

Based on the actual events of the 1991 brush fires that swept across Northern California which left countless people without homes. A rookie fire chief who just started his new job must deal with the raging fires.

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Plot Keywords:

fire | on the run | disaster

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Taglines:

The true story of one of the greatest natural disasters in American history

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Genres:

Action | Drama

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 February 1993 (USA)

Also Known As:

72 Stunden in der Flammenhölle

Filming Locations:

Oakland, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

ABC Video Enterprises, Cannell Entertainment, Capital Cities

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The radio transmission from fire command telling the firefighters at the scene of the brush fire about the weather for Sunday was the real radio transmission given that night warning them to put out all the hot spots.

User Reviews

insiders view

I have a somewhat different view of this film from most as I have an insider's experience. The film centered on real people on a real street within the fire called Charing Cross Road. I lived on Charing Cross and was one of the last to get out that day. In the movie, for reasons I will never understand, they were very accurate about the name of every street except mine which they fictionalized to "Holly Ridge Road" or something close to that. They also padded really minor details like the size of my neighbors boat. In real life a small row boat in the film a 40 foot yacht. I guess the real story didn't have enough drama in it. Unlike one of the other reviewers I felt the movie was padded out to the full 2 hours. Since the subject was really Charing Cross Road the film should have lasted about 15 minutes which is about the time it took for Charing Cross to become history.

My middle ground rating of the film is based on my love of bad films. This is a bad film but I'm sure that was not their intention. As somebody that went through the fire it's nice to have something like this movie to look at and get a laugh.