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OAKLAND — Years of contentious meetings between Oakland Fire Chief Teresa Deloach Reed and an Oakland hills’ fire prevention committee boiled over Thursday night when the chief, in a 10-minute rant, threatened to sue a homeowner and claimed the organization was biased against her and used her as a scapegoat for problems in the hills.

In a heated exchange, Reed and Wildfire Prevention Assessment District (WPAD) Citizen’s Advisory Committee Chair Sue Piper, once Mayor Jean Quan’s spokeswoman, argued back and forth over how long the chief could respond to a homeowner’s comments, which included the reading of a lengthy letter.

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Is Oakland shirking fire inspections in the wildfire-prone hills? “For you to sit here and allow this individual to read this document that you haven’t reviewed, that … is full of a bunch of lies,” the chief said, her voice rising. “I’m going to be talking to my attorney about this because … I am tired of this group coming after me and trying to blame me for all the deficiencies that are going on within this group.”

It was the first monthly meeting since this newspaper published a series of articles illustrating deficiencies in the department’s inspection programs, particularly the defensible space program done in the hills since the deadly October 1991 firestorm. Reed’s department has received criticism about its fire prevention programs since the Dec. 2 Ghost Ship warehouse fire that killed 36 people, but the hills committee has long complained about the department and what they perceive as a preference for fire suppression, not fire prevention.

“Our frustration is with her performance. There’s been a very long learning curve and we’re running out of time,” said Piper in a phone interview Friday, referring to the dismantling of the assessment district in June when funding runs dry. “I think she takes it too personally. Our role is to keep the city accountable and when it takes too long to get something done, the buck stops with her office.”

Thursday’s confrontation started innocently enough during public comment at the start of the lightly attended meeting, held at the Richard C. Trudeau Conference Center on Skyline Boulevard.

Former assessment district Commissioner Dinah Benson was the only speaker, reading a four-page letter that addressed the history of the committee and issues in the hills. Parts of the letter critiqued Reed on a variety of issues, recalling a meeting where the chief got “visibly upset” when she was surprised by a fire inspection performance audit paid for by assessment district funds.

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“Administrative support from the various Fire Chiefs during the life of the WPAD went from warm and hopeful to downright hostile with the current Fire Chief,” Benson read from her letter.

“It is certain, the fire danger that existed 25 years ago, is still our constant companion,” Benson concluded, taking well over the three-minute limit afforded public comments.

An upset Chief Reed immediately responded and the animosity ramped up when Piper at one point tried to limit Reed from talking for too long.

“I have the floor. I have the floor and I think I have about 20 or 30 minutes to talk,” Reed said. “You gave an individual all the time she wanted, so now you’re going to give me all the time I want.”

Piper, as chair, tried to rein in the chief, saying she’s taking the floor: “I am taking it back Chief. I am running the meeting and I am taking it back from you.”

“So you’re gonna let someone stand up here and read a (four)-page document to defame me and then you’re not gonna give me an opportunity to say anything?” Reed asked. “Fine. Fine. You just said it. You take it back from me. I won’t say anything. But this is typical of this organization. The bias that goes on with this group…so I have nothing to say.”

But the chief continued to spar with Piper, with both interrupting the other. Finally, a frustrated Piper asked: “Are you finished? Because you keep talking.”

“And you continue to spread lies like these, not just about me, but about this organization that serves this community,” the Chief fired back, flanked by Fire Marshal Miguel Trujillo.

After more than 10 minutes, a commissioner asked for a recess so everyone could “cool down.”

As the room sat quiet, Reed continued speaking to her fire marshal: “I’m tired of them routinely blaming me for the inadequacies of some other individuals.”

Piper asked her to take the conversation outside because she was trying to de-escalate the tension and Reed snapped back: “So now you’re dictating to me where I need to take my break?”

Benson, a 72-year-old homeowner who lives near the Oakland Zoo, said she did not take the chief’s defamation lawsuit seriously.

“She’s not going to go anywhere with that. She’s a public figure,” said Benson, a retired attorney, in a phone interview Friday. “I know I got under her skin and that’s not what my intention was.

“I think she probably handles fire suppression very well, but she seems very uncomfortable with the law enforcement and inspections stuff,” Benson said.

An assistant to Reed said Friday that the chief would have no comment.

Piper said the WPAD has been frustrated with Oakland fire officials in its 14 years of existence, not just Reed. However, delays in staffing hires and the vegetation management plan by Reed has left the committee with serious concerns.

In a statement late Friday, Mayor Libby Schaaf’s communications director, Erica Terry Derryck, said, “As one might expect following a tragedy like this, emotions have been running high among residents and city workers. We remain focused on moving forward in a way that will make Oaklanders safer.”

Following the combative start to the meeting, the rest of the night continued uneventfully.