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Updated 12:45 p.m. Tuesday

Dangerous fire weather conditions shut down a vote center in the Oakland hills on Tuesday morning, coming as PG&E announced it is widening its planned public safety power shut-offs, leaving more polling places in the outage footprint.

The Joaquin Miller Community Center polling place was closed due to a red-flag warning, according to the Alameda County Registrar of Voters. Residents were instead directed to a nearby site at Montera Middle School.

Although dry, windy weather was expected to raise the potential for dangerous wildfires by midday Tuesday, PG&E said it would not shut off power until after polls close at 8 p.m. It will likely cut power to approximately 22,000 customers across 17 counties to prevent wildfires sparked by one of its lines — and up to five polling places could be affected, PG&E said.

The utility previously said only two polling places would potentially be in the outage areas.

Most affected customers are located in the North Bay, East Bay hills and the western Sacramento Valley. Two polling places in Vacaville and one each in Los Gatos, Fairfield and Middletown could lose power Tuesday night.

“PG&E has delivered temporary generation for each of these polling locations,” the utility said in an update on its website. “However, if power needs to be shut off for safety, it would occur after in-person voting has ended.”

A red flag warning is now in effect across much of the Bay Area until Thursday morning, as the National Weather Service expects a strong offshore wind event to bring dry, gusty weather. That combined with low fuel moisture increases the risk of dangerous wildfires.

Gusts up to 70 mph are forecast at some high elevations, including the Geysers, Mount St. Helena and Mount Diablo.

Given recent rain, the Bay Area is at relatively low risk of major fires, according to UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain. Parts of central and southern California, which haven’t yet had significant rainfall, could be more heavily affected.

PG&E expects the power shutoffs to last until Thursday when winds are expected to die down.

A five-alarm brush fire in Oakland, California, sparked evacuation orders as it burned two homes on Friday.

Crews were "working aggressively to fully extinguish" the blaze in Oakland Hills, named the Keller Fire, the Oakland Fire Department said in an update on X early Saturday morning.

The fire started Friday afternoon in a home on Mountain Avenue. Wind carried flames into a grove of Eucalyptus trees, where it has grown to 15 acres, NBC Bay Area reported. The fire was 50% contained as of Saturday morning, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFire).

Fire Chief Damon Covington said at a news conference Saturday that there are still a "tremendous amount of hot spots."

"We have a lot of work to do," he said.

A major cause for concern was the wind picking up and the elevated temperature, he said.

"We expect to be here throughout the day and possibly through the evening," Covington told reporters.

At a news conference Friday, he said that crews were able to stop the forward progress of the fire but said "we still have a lot of work to do."

Oakland fire said two homes have been impacted by flames. Dozens of other homes on Maynard, Sanford, Greenridge and Canyon Oaks were threatened by flames but not damaged.

Evacuation orders were initially issued for Campus Drive and Crystal Ridge Court, NBC Bay Area reported, before it expanded to surrounding areas. Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao said anyone being evacuated should leave immediately.

"You're only being evacuated, it's because we're trying to protect the health of our citizens," she said at Friday's news conference.

Delane Sims' said her home was one of the two damaged. Sims told NBC Bay Area that her husband was inside their home when the landscape caught on fire and caused a front window to explode.

"That explosion woke him up, and he was able to get out alive, and that’s what I’m grateful for. That’s what I’m most grateful for," she said. "I thank God for that."

Minyvonne Burke

Minyvonne Burke is a senior breaking news reporter for NBC News.

Joe Kottke contributed.

A fast-moving vegetation fire broke out Friday afternoon in the hills of Oakland, California, burning at least two homes before firefighters were able to stop forward progress hours after the incident began.

The Oakland Fire Department said the fire was burning in the area of Interstate Highway 580, Mountain Boulevard and Keller Avenue. Initial reports indicated at least four structures in the area of Mountain Boulevard and Maynard Avenue were fully involved, according to the Fire Department.

The fire was initially reported at about 1:30 p.m. and by 1:50 p.m. it had gone to three alarms. A fourth alarm was called at about 2:15 p.m. During that time, winds in the area were measured at around 11 mph with gusts up to 22 mph.

Over 80 firefighters were on the scene along with Cal Fire air support and ground units. The fire advanced to a fifth alarm before forward progress was halted just before 4 p.m. with 13 acres burned. Firefighters said at least two structures were burned as of 6 p.m.

Residents of the Caballo Hills neighborhood north of Highway 580 were evacuated, according to the Fire Department. The evacuations were in effect along Campus Drive east of Stoneridge Court and all homes on Crystal Ridge Court. Residents on Altura Place and Rifle Lane were also evacuated.

A map of the evacuation zones can be found here. An evacuation center was set up at Burckhalter Elementary School.

Oakland Fire officials later posted an update on the homes damaged by the fire after seeing conflicting reports. As of 5:15 p.m., Oakland Fire said there were two residential homes impacted by flames. They noted that dozens of homes on Maynard, Sanford, Greenridge, Canyon Oaks were threatened during the fire, but not damaged.

At about 2:20 p.m., the California Highway Patrol issued a severe traffic alert because of the fire burning adjacent to Highway 580 and closed all westbound lanes. Firefighters were seen putting out a spot fire next to the shoulder of the westbound lanes possibly started by embers of the fire.

By 3:30 p.m. one westbound lane had reopened; all lanes were reopened by 4 p.m.

The Bay Area was under a Wind Advisory Friday with gusts expected to reach 50-65 mph in higher elevations. The National Weather Service issued a Red Flag Warning for most of the Bay Area and Central Coast because of the critically dry conditions.

There was no immediate word on the cause of the fire.

The fire is burning close to the area of a catastrophic firestorm nearly 33 years ago to the day. On Oct. 19, 1991, a smoldering grass fire that was not completely extinguished reignited and burned out of control in the Oakland and Berkeley hills for days, killing 25 people, injuring 150 others, and burning more than 3,000 homes.

Carlos Castañeda

Carlos E. Castañeda is a senior editor of news and social media for CBS Bay Area.

Evacuations have been ordered for east Oakland residents after a brush fire broke out Friday afternoon and burned two homes.

More than 80 Oakland firefighters and personnel from other local fire agencies were stationed in an Oakland Hills neighborhood, near Interstate 580, fighting the "fast-moving" fire, which spread over 13 acres and burned less than 10 structures, according to an X post by the Oakland Fire Department.

"Dozens of homes on Maynard, Sanford, Greenridge, Canyon Oaks were threatened but NOT damaged by flames," according to Oakland Fire's latest update.

Residents across multiple zones, including OKL-E203, OKL-E177, OKL-E204 and OKL-E176, were ordered to "EVACUATE NOW," according to Oakland Fire. A real time evacuation map and the locations of additional evacuation points are available here.

"You are under a mandatory evacuation. Evacuate the area immediately," read the evacuation map. A temporary evacuation point was set up at Burckhalter Elementary School, which is located at 3994 Burckhalter Avenue.

The fire was moving north and northwest, according to the evacuation map. An "evacuation warning" was also issued for OKL-E179 and OKL-E178.

“To everyone nearby in Oakland: Please follow all evacuation orders, follow all safety guidelines, and stay safe,” Rep. Barbara Lee said, reported KRON-TV.

The cause of the fire was not immediately known.

This is a developing story, check back later for updates.