SAN FRANCISCO >> A fast-moving brush fire in Northern California prompted an evacuation of an Oakland neighborhood and damaged at least four structures.

At least 80 firefighters were battling the 8-acre blaze in the Oakland hills and state crews have arrived to help, the Oakland Fire Department said.

The fire comes as forecasters issued red flag warnings for fire danger until Saturday from the central coast through the San Francisco Bay Area and into northern Shasta County, not far from the Oregon border.

The fire is burning in the Oakland hills where a 1991 fire destroyed nearly 3,000 homes and killed 25 people.

A California utility shut off power in 19 counties in the northern and central part of the state as a major “diablo wind” — notorious in autumn for its hot, dry gusts — spiked the risk of power lines sparking a wildfire.

About 16,000 customers were without electricity Friday after Pacific Gas and Electric shut off power.

The “diablo wind” is forecast to cause sustained winds reaching 35 mph in many areas, with possible gusts topping 65 mph along mountaintops, according to the National Weather Service. The strong winds are expected to last through part of the weekend.

The utility began cutting power Thursday to customers in 12 counties, including Alameda, Contra Costa, Napa, Solano and Sonoma in the Bay Area, and some customers farther north in Colusa, Glenn, Tehama and Shasta counties, PG&E said.

A total of about 20,000 customers could lose power temporarily in the next couple of days, PG&E said in a statement Friday.

“The duration and extent of power outages will depend on the weather in each area, and not all customers will be affected for the entire period,” the utility said.

It was not immediately clear what caused the Oakland blaze. The fire department ordered people to evacuate Friday on two streets, Campus Drive and Crystal Ridge Court. No injuries have been reported.

“This could end up being the most significant wind event for this year so far,” said meteorologist Brayden Murdock with the service’s Bay Area office. “We want to tell people to be cautious.”

During a diablo wind, common in the fall, the air is so dry that relative humidity levels plunge, drying out vegetation and making it ready to burn. The name — “diablo” is Spanish for “devil” — is informally applied to a hot wind that blows near the San Francisco region from the interior toward the coast as high pressure builds over the West.