perspective have how large that complex is also want to give you an idea how tall those flames are our and and you can caused by the the embers flying onto the other homes. what are the conditions? happening right now?

let's get out.

all right. thank you very much. darren once again. if you're just joy us, we are following breaking news out. of redwood city. yeah. construction apartment complex fire under construction is burning right now. earlier we are bringing you images from wilson walker on 1 side of the complex this is from our photographer vince was on the other side of the complex and you can just see a different perspective of this fire. and and and that 1 side of the complex we think it's several different. complexes. at least 3 and it's a it's a huge construction under site, but you can see that this building is completely engulfed. in flames. all the upstairs and

all the upper floors of this of this construction site is now burning right now, and those orange flames are extremely hot as that smoke continues to billow into the air. if you live in this area san mateo county sheriff's once again have evacuation orders in place. the original evacuation orders went from pacific and calvin road. the extended those evacuations too, dunbarton avenue from the train tracks to middlefield. road. and i know a lot of people are probably trying to get some eyes on this because it is a pretty massive and big site, but where they are asking people to avoid this area. we don't want to have a lot of lucky lose clogging up traffic and clogging out any potential. evacuations of people trying to move away from this, but from will wilson's perspective. we saw the flames would die down the smoke would die down and then all of a sudden it would just flare up once again and looks like we're having another flare up, and we don't know if that's because of

the fuel that's burning right there, or that's because of the wind gusts. but now we have those 2 images side by side on the left of your screen that is from a reporter wilson walker. those were the images we are bringing you earlier. from the right of your screen a wider shot from our photographer events on the ground. we have two crews on the scene right now. it gives you a big perspective, and it gives you a good idea. what of what firefighters? are up against at this. not sure if they're governable if they're going to be able to save this construction site might my guests and i'm no expert in this, they're not going to be able to save this. this. this is there's just too much fuel and it's too hot. the wind is going right now. wilson, i don't know if we can see the other side from vince's shot. wilson and you're right. i mean, it's completely engulf right now, but it looks like we're having another flare up. what is your perspective right now? >>yeah. boy, >>that >>yeah. well, you just you just said it. look at that. look at

that building going at this, uh, that's about the biggest flare up. i have seen. coming out of that side of the construction site since we've been here and it looks like that 1 is heading the same direction as the middle building. we watched fall apart, ryan ah! you know, oddly enough. there's not a lot of wind right now. so something in that building has has really gotten going because there's no there's no particular gust of wind to speak. well, here comes a little gusty winds. we'll see what happens here, but that building is really really going now? you know, we've been shuffling around a little bit over here as they've been >>trying >>to. you know, corral the collection of media that's shown up into a little spot where they're trying to run firefighters. in and out of the the fair oaks health center here over on this side of the fire scene. you know, coming in. i could. i could see a number of no. the number of folks who have been pulled out looked like out of this health center. there's also a daycare around the corner that which was stacked with kids out front. i think people have been

told to get out of this immediate block. um as we're looking at that building go holy cow! it is, it is really burning now, ryan? >>yeah, you're you're absolutely right. i mean, these are some of the largest flames. we've we've seen on this fire the enormity is startling. and i can only imagine. you know, we're looking at this at home and in the studio from video. i can only imagine what this looks like in person. >>and >>and i'm like it's extremely >>much earlier. >>it was go, go ahead. i'm >>sorry. i was going to say earlier when the when the building closer to us was burning and the wind was drifting a little bit more this direction you could absolutely feel the heat of that fire. is gonna to be pushing a little bit. yeah, pushing a little bit the other direction now so we cannot but earlier during 1 of those big flare ups and and you know, it's slightly different wind direction you could you could feel it on the other side of the street here when i walked up, it was it was warm,

but if you know if you also a nurse, the yes. smoke kind of drifting upwards a little bit here as we're talking about the drifting upwards a little bit here as we're talking about the wind. uh, which kind of comes and goes uh, but but yeah, we were like we said, you know what 15 minutes ago. ryan. it's just sort of just watching the inevitable here. this building is is just going to burn to >>the ground. it it's going to be a total loss. i'm no expert in construction. material, but, uh from the looks of it, it looks like it's this is a wooden frame >>building. as far as i can tell, you know. and i'm looking through, um the bits that have burned away and that's a that's about all i'm saying is is sort of just, you know. studs that haven't burned off kind of standing up in there. i do not see anything else with the exception of maybe the ground floor on the nearest, you know, obviously that looks like

concrete construction. but i imagine there's upper floors you you might be correct. >>yeah. >>and it looks like >>ahead. well, i was just going to if you're just >>joining >>us now, this is 2 perspectives of the fire going right now. the left side is from wilson walker. who's on the rear side and then our photographer events. but that's the images on the right side and you can see from vince's perspective. that complex and that construction site that is fully engulfed. it's just nothing but red flames and black smoke at this and and as that smoke continues to billow in the air that's going to create some air hazard. so if you if you live nearby the best advice right now is to just shelter in place. and and wilson. i mean >>that >>that that thing's going hot >>now. yeah, you know, didn't now the wind sort of pushing the smoke down. you're talking about the smoke and people living near the smoke. we get a little push of wind and you can see it flatten out. you know

what? i'm sure people downwind. i can tell when that is happening, and you get the smoke kind of pushed down the ground level there. uh, gosh! you know, i kind of wish i could see vince's shot from the other side. you know, just because that you know that building really is really is going up would would also imagine that they've cleared a bunch of space out beneath that building. for when the top floors inevitably start to give way, because i think that is going to come crashing down on us at >>some seen parts of that building already collapse and wilson. thanks for joining us, and thanks for the perspective of this, are we going to go to darren? because we want to talk a lot about that smoke that smoke is is black. it's thick. it's building over different areas and and darren if if you can give us a perspective, where is that smoke going? is it is it heading in a certain direction and she should residents be a wary of aware that smoke is blowing

okay. well, thank you very much, darren. as you can see. that smoke is continuing to billow. and that fire is still burning once again, if you're just joining us, we're following breaking news from redwood city, where a massive fires tearing through a construction site. right now, this is a long middlefield road. there are mandatory evacuations in the area right now. it includes people living along dumbarton avenue from the train tracks to middlefield road, people there are being told to evacuate. immediately. we are now being told this is a 179. unit. affordable housing. project and we've seen different perspectives of this fire. one is from wilson walker and then these, there's some wide shots coming in from citizens app and from social media. the complex is massive. it is huge and it's been burning quite hot. uh, all morning and now afternoon long.

sending those flames way up into the air that smoke billowing high into the air. and from 1 of the perspectives from vince's shot you could see that those flames is basically chewed up that building. >>i mean >>building doesn't exist that >>yeah. >>whole rights. side of that building is now >>gone. and >>and the enormity of this fire at times, especially when the winds were gusting. those flames are shooting. five. stories higher than the actual complex itself. and it's just a massive fire right now, but it looks like it's going to be a situation where maybe they're just going to have to let this burn itself >>out. we've seen fires like this in the past where you know when you have construction site you've got, you know, potentially very hazardous materials there on the ground that can make this fire burn, especially hot wilson walker is on the ground near this fire for us. wilson. what can you tell us? yeah. i'm still

waiting to get just seems like this thing. yeah. i'm here, wilson. i'm >>sorry. >>yeah. real. seems like this this fire quieted down from and just the last couple of minutes after burning quite intensely for a while. i think we were all >>just sort of >>just sort of looking at odd how hot that building was burning and look at it now. not a lot of black smoke. it really seems like that big push of fire, really chewed up just as i say that it seems to be >>sort of >>sparking up >>a little bit. >>but things have died back a little bit. was listening. darren, talk about the smoke >>and >>almost as soon as we had said that smoke was drifting upwards, it really did seem to push and burn. kind of down towards the >>you know, >>towards my left here. i guess that's down towards the south. >>a little, >>um but the spire seemed >>to >>fire >>up. >>cool back down. and now i

wonder if it's not trying to make another push back there as i see some more flames coming out of the interior of that back building. you know, vince was on the on the other side for us >>there >>and i heard heard ryan saying that they had that flames had chewed away at the building and sort of from this angle. it looks like it has it looks like that huge. flare >>up. >>really did eat away at some of that structure, and i'm telling you sitting here listening to you to save described this as as affordable housing. we all know how precious that is. how hard it is to get it approved and built. you >>know what >>a what a gut >>punch to >>know >>that >>the affordable housing effort in this part of the peninsula has just taken a >>big hit. if you will. wilson. i mean, part of the reason from your perspective why the flames may have died down. there is just no more fuel to burn. ah, but that the right half of that that that tire complex on the far side from you is absolutely gone, so it looks like the flames are on the lower floors now. the left side of the building is still there looks like there's another flare up happening right now. but that

is a 175. unit affordable housing project called the middlefield junction. >>nonprofit developer called mercy housing. california. was building this complex. this is a partnership between the developer senator so oh county and several private investors. to add 2 affordable housing in redwood city and wilson. i know you're on the ground there and a lot of people who live in this neighborhood had to be evacuated. are you seeing some of those folks who live in this area around you? you >>right >>now? most of the folks standing over on this into the fire seemed to have come out of the >>health >>center here. were frankly working on the building. there are a lot of a >>lot of >>you know, yellow yellow vests around here, >>and >>i would imagine that these folks were part of the construction efforts. also a bunch of pg and e crews queuing up here. i wonder if they're here for some type of, you know, fix up job. but on this end, it is largely 1st responders and construction workers and folks who have come

up from the other side of the to just sort of watch the spectacle here. i understanding is that there are more people who live off. to the sort of the downwind side of this fire and on the other side were offenses. i think it's maybe the >>more >>the more residential areas over here. a >>lot of >>fun mechanic shops and maybe more industrial >>side >>attempt right? and then we're told multiple agencies are responding to this. understandably so dis given the scope of this fire. we're seeing a lot of fire trucks do you see any ambulances or any indication that there could be injuries with >>this? >>nothing in that regard nothing at all have not seen a single single ambulance. it is all fire trucks here. >>yeah. >>they all appear to be up. i got menlo park over here. redwood city. uh, well, there's an ambulance parked over there, but i've not seen any any evidence of any injuries. you know, >>we had >>you know, someone over here kind of managing us. as the media trying to get us all over

into 1 spot. they didn't seem to suggest anyone had been >>injured. >>uh i think they're just sort of >>trying >>to marshal forces and to get this building surrounded, but no no no injuries >>that i've heard >>of. all right, wilson, or we'll check back in with you in just a few minutes. let's get back to darren peck, darren, you know, we're starting kind of this summer trend where it's drier, certainly. and there could be winds also, that could be contributing to how the firefighters tackled this blaze. give us a sense of what the weather is there right now and where the smoke is >>blowing. >>do >>you hear anything? >>oh, yes. >>yeah. yeah.

want >>yeah. >>me >>yeah. so i >>can >>watch. to the am planning man. yeah. >>but of it.

>>out. >>yeah. ryan. underwear. >>the >>phone >>or with >>what

you very much, darren. we wanted >>yeah. >>much. darren. we want to take you back. down to the new to our simon desk. brian densmore is the eyes and ears of our newsroom and was following this fire as it 1st broke out later this morning or earlier this morning, brian kind of take us through the what you're hearing early onto what you're hearing now. how many agencies responded this was just a massive fire. >>yeah, ryan, you know, we've we've seen this construction fires before in the bay area, and this 1 had all the earmarks early of being what we call a worker. this 1st calls came in at about 1012. and there was a large response immediately. in fact, he got bumped to 3 alarms by about 1020 it currently stands and this is rare. it currently stands at 8 alarms. so we are seeing mutual aid

response from all over the peninsula in the south bay. okay as wilson mentioned menlo park, palo alto, redwood >>city >>there are county fire crews. there crews coming >>from >>all parts of the bay area and it's a very intricate ballet because they want to send the proper number of resources to fight the >>fire. >>and make sure that the rest of the bay area is protected, which is pretty standard. but i know is of concern, especially as we are entering into a hot dry. windy weather. we've got embers blowing around and we've also got large parts of the bay >>area >>that are entering into sort of the thick of fire >>season. >>um, we've done a little bit of research after we got our initial response going and some of the amazing pictures you've seen. i've dug up a little bit of information on this building. if you have a moment i can talk to you a little bit about >>that. >>that'd >>be great. >>all right, so this building its known as 20 cents, this address where this fire is, if you know the peninsula this is

on middlefield road. it is in unincorporated redwood city, but by for all intents and purposes, it's redwood >>city. >>but it's county owned property. and you might remember we did a story talking about the affordable housing. project that is being built at this location. it is known as middlefield junction. and it is in what is called the north farrokh section and as we can see from the pictures before the fire broke out. it looked like this building was well on its way to being framed >>out. >>um and unfortunately, we have seen fires when buildings are in this stage. of construction now this complex actually started at being built in 2023. and at that i remember this story because um san mateo county has been struggling with creating affordable housing. so this is being looked at as a

real savior for folks. who are in need of a affordable housing. in fact, we are working the phones right now to see if we can talk to some of the san mateo county leaders. who were involved in this project and talk to us a little bit more because clearly this is going to set things >>back >>as firefighters worked to control these flames, and then they'll have to assess where they go from here. but, yeah, brian is about it. speaking of the leaders in that area, we actually have sheriff javier. acosta on the phone for us. we're going to check back in with you, brian in just a moment, but let's get to sheriff are or sgt javier acosta with the sheriff's department sgt. a cost are >>you there? afternoon. >>good afternoon. thanks so much for joining us. what can you tell us about the very latest on this fire? it looks like from our perspective than the flames are dying down a bit, frankly, because there's nothing really left to burn. what do you >>saying? >>yeah. well, you know, i'll let that fire farmers speak to

that, and it's still still actively on fire. there's other construction buildings that neighbor the fire. we have evacuated. the north iraq's community or unincorporated redwood >>city. >>uh, from middlefield >>road. >>to the train tracks from pacific avenues and dumbarton. that's our perimeter. everybody's been that from that >>area, >>and we're asking, >>uh, >>for people who >>have >>do not have any business in this area. please stay >>away. >>allowing for the emerge. equipment to come through and do >>their thing. and sgt, this is this is still a very active scene as you mentioned right now, and several agencies of response. to the fire. we did notice. there were some ambulances there are any. are there any reports of any injuries? whether it's big? firefighters are people that we're working on that construction >>site? as far as the ambulance? i believe that was for the that was for the feral communities and medical clinic was evacuated by ambulance that has been evacuated. um, we have

a lot of agencies here on standby. we've had assistance from agencies all over the peninsula. they've been helping us with evacuations. they're still here with us, and we're together. we're going to make sure the community >>safe. >>and for the folks who may be living in the area or trying to get to their destination that could be in that area that don't necessarily know what's going on. are there barricades set up? what's the sheriff's department doing to try to keep people out of that area, so they >>stay safe. >>yeah, we have we have roadblocks. we have personnel on foot on vehicles roaming around the area, making sure nobody enters the fire >>zone. >>um so we've got a pretty good perimeter on >>this. >>we're going to be here out here all day or as far as long as fire and we'll make sure that everyone is reunited with >>her >>their properties when it's safe to do >>so. all right. thank you very much from a sgt javier acosta from the san mateo county sheriff's department, keeping everyone safe from this fire that has been burning since 1012 this morning. according to

our simon, manager, brian dunsmore. once again, this is an affordable housing complex 179. units that fire burning and redwood city just off 2700 middlefield road. let's go back out to wilson walker, who has been on scene for us throughout the morning, and this afternoon, and wilson looks like the flames are dying down. kind of a combination of the firefighters finally getting a handling on this and and the fact there's well. there's no fuel to burn anymore. >>you know it >>got >>really smoky and sort of white, smoky kind of way. you know, which tells us that they're getting some water on it and all of a sudden it's gotten almost hard to see what's left of that building from where we are. uh you know, we you and i've been watching this thing. roared to life and die back down all morning, so i'm not about to say it's over, but it certainly looks like it is sat down a little bit. uh,

would would also mention that the wind is so pushing a little bit at this moment. we're getting 1 of these. >>facebook. >>sort of moments where the smoke flattens >>out >>for all the poor people down, you know downwind of this, but at this, it's almost hard to see what is left. from where we are as the smoke starts >>to just >>come off what looks like it's maybe smoldering a little bit now. when the smoke clears, we can't see a lot of water getting thrown on that >>so >>i don't know, you know? your guess is as good as mine. are we starting to see this thing lie down just a little bit.

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