anything. and a friend of mine yelled to look out of the window. there is a fire. we looked and it looked like it was under control. and then, it was exploding. >> could you smell smoke from the office? >> yes. >> someone just went outside and said it's raining. i'm standing here looking at this thing now. looking at just this area, it is hard to imagine. >> firefighters have been spraying water on it but there is a newer building that are about to be to the north. i can't imagine it's not also on fire. uk see this part of the building

collapsed. and that is why they've pulled firefighters back away from the building. >> yes the middle part of the building is gone. >> you can see there, they're spraying water on it. >> i think they're trying to keep it from spreading. >> plain flames now are north. ethan, thank you for coming on. a short time ago we're speaking with another witness working just across the street from the fire. we're working to get that. stand by, here it comes >> not, not a windy day.

smoke has been steady and it's up in the air but the fire is blazing and it's just the structure is just on. you can feel the heat it's sad. it's a brand new building. it is supposed to open around august. >> that is elana describing what she witnessed. fires seemed to be ice sole yated. the center of the billing collapsed and real issue is keeping this from spreading. >> the whole thing has gone up. this is about an hour ago. now, the structure is

wayne you've watched this intensify. >> i have.u! five minutes ago, it's difficult to see through that structure. now it appears we can see how it's burning. it would appear they're beginning to get a handle on it. it looks like an inferno inside. our camera man is tight inside. you can see it better than i am we do see that firdvpg up top. very close to the flames. pouring water. i can't imagine how hot it must be there and behind him, still, a largec tower coming up from perhaps the middle of the building. and debris, paper.

we don't know. >> yes. >> so you saw it. i'm not able to. something just collapsed it's still active. there it goes again. more collapsing. here come more flames. this just keeps on going. it's remarkable. dan? >> just a remarkable and tragic sight. this building supposed to go to open, we understand in august. just a total loss. just devoured by flames. >> yes. this is from sky seven hd. you can see that flames were certainly raging inside. but this shows how devastating this fire is right now.

and you can see the building there, it's collapsed. >> it's breaking news happening during 5:00 news. the first thing is just a little bit of white smoke. one corner of the building looked like there is a fire burning. then win just minutes suddenly the smoke was very black.ym and expanding rapidry. all of a sudden it just spread instantly to so much of this building. >> and we want to go to leannei melendex. we can see the smoke behind you there. >> you can see flames behind me. you, carolyn, you can see

something is still very much fuelling this fire. no idea what that is. look at the flames here and of course, smoke. i don't care where you live in san francisco. you're probably seeing this smoke inok the air. people are just watching it. part of the area is cordoned off. police trying to keep peoplenb away from the area. embarcadero beginning to be very congested. again, firefightersq trying to put outç that fire. >> leanne, thank you. it's impressive to see efforts

from firefighters just trying to get water on this now. we wanted to orient you again. we did hope to bring you a map. this is 4th and china basin. this is mission bay complex. we had a doctor on from sf fire talked about concerns over the collapse of the building which is under way now. firefighters pulled back back from the effort. >> this is carl. carl, you've been watching this

longer than we v were you surprised? >> yes. this is crazy i got off work around 4:30 and saw smoke. just following it it's just been getting larger ever since then. >> when you looked how big was the fire? >> it just went fast. >> was it blowing down? >> first low, now looked i can up and down, south. so yes. >> do you know what build something >> no. i don't. looks like a new apartment complex. that is terrible. >> it is. >> thank you for talking to us >> have a good one

>> thank you. >> that is carl greg we're looking into the sun. it gives it an unworldly we're looking at what appears to be a shell of a building, what is left of a shell of a building with fires smoke going up ÷ú people standing around looking sayingç what

we can only hope people are not inside. >> you can see image on the right there. it's, you can see majority of the building collapsed. it's helpful for firefighters. through this area is closed down. so muni metro affected by this as well. >> alana works across the are you there? >> you watched from the beginning. tell us what is going on now? >>ç so right now, streetv: is blocked off.

i can see from different angles but flames are strong the policeman came in and started to cross the street. and asked if they can evacuate floor by floor. i asked, i was breathing in fumes so i said okay. it's time to get out of here. my building was evacuated. i mean it's really sad i just met developers they're nice people getting ready to open but i hope they can maintain building. it's different sides.

>> yes. >> thank you. sad to say not much of the building is going to be saved >> no. no. >> do you feel the heat still? >> i can a little bit. how far, it's a hot day as it is. but i can feel it. i was feeling it across the street. andjf now. i know there is a bunch of new buildings in this neighborhood. >> yes. that is the focus right now. they're trying to keep it contained. thank you. >> did you have a sense on how well this building was leasing up. >> leasing office hadn't opened yet

i don't know. okay. but leasing office is not yet open i actually work for the company across the street i just met the developers briefly. >> yes. yes. >> thank you.ym >> let's check in with leanne melendex. you have a witness as well? >> it's best to hear from people who got here after fires started. and charlie, tell me what i saw. . >> i saw fire, smoke. i walked down

of the of the building is falling down. >> has it gotten bigger? >> much bigger now. it's burned like bottom two loors, that is the oem thing they're trying to get. >> i don't know you can see him but look how close to the flames. wind going that way. then going this way. and just unbelievable. >> they started watering this on the side where fire is. that to out out flames on that side. >> it's amazing. >> yes. we have good video. thank you very much for your

insight. and yeah just look at the flames. >> just black smoke and flames. >> back to you. >> thank you. we want to mention it's causing concern for those traveling along highway 101. this smoke now is whiter smoke. >> yes >> abc7 news viewer sent us this cell phone video. and

street. you can see the plume there. you can tweet your photos to us. >> been watching the conditions on the fire. >> unearlier witness made a smart observation. she said wind has been light and smoke rising in a vertical fashion. it's because winds have been calm throughout the afternoon and at this tmoment. this is unusual.

strong gusts wind calm. it's not hot. it's mild by san francisco standards. so it's not likely for the next few minutes that weatherñi wille l-;aqhere is a wind advisory. not we can't say how strong but starting to get stronger after 8:00 p.m . >> thank you. >> from your point up there you can see the

we have the higher skyline blocking my view. up high, i can see white smoke in the air. >> that is a good sign >> there are still a lot of flames. and big concern is that it's spreading to other areas. this is ucsf hospital has

offices here. let's go to allen wong now. what do you have? >> we're peering between one building under construction. andç another beam calling down. there are not that many people that live down here. one person says he lives across from this they watched it start on

their fire alarms went off. there are people watching there at this time. >> you can feel the heat? >> i can't. you can't feel the heat from where we are. >> there is a second structure? i can't tell if it's one or a second structure. there is burned up.

>> into this area. >> there are flames something is now burning. there are no firefighters present to deal with it. >> this area right now. >> this roof is on fire now. efforts are still on the main fire. >> look at cokthis.

it's picking up steam a little bit. this could spread. >> there is smoke to the left. it's towards the east of the building still block. that means they're probably getting more control on that end. if you can see it's roughly half a

leanne? >> yes. we want to talk to someone across the street÷ú from this fe what. do you do for a living? you were across the street. >> yes. i run a start up. and we thought it was a drill. so we casually walked outside and heard a guy shouting "run" we saw the smoke. >> everybody in that building was evacuated? >> yes.

there wasn't that much people inside. >> we just packed our stuff. we stood next to thelp building now is pretty much gone i asked about gas lines he said maybe they're turned off, i don't know. >> tell me about how this escalated. over what period of time? >> about 5, 10. people tried to run back inside >> let's take a look at it quickly. my friend's dog is still in the building. hopefully it's going to be fine. >> so what you are your plans tonight? >> i don't know.

we'll figure ut oit. they're probably not going to stay at their place tonight. >> can you tell me what's happening? >> it's still under construction? >> we've been working at strada three months we've seen buildings grow. there is a good bit of construction going on. >> at 10:00 they're having lunch. a bunch of guys were sitting outside very active today, this morning. >> nobody has been injured. >> i haven't heard. good. >> so good luck to you. >> yes. thank you.

>> you can see what is left of the building still burning. look to the right side of the screen. you see that green insulation wrap? that now, all you can see is a shell surrounding what collapsed. >> it's a huge building. >> it is. another building appears to be at third and channel streets.

>> wayne? >> another fire truck is arriving. muni rerouted because of this. ñ people on muni. you can see people going away from the fire.

we can see structure of the building and some flames popping up. and still we can see smoke >> thank you. a lot of folks wondering if it's at and t park there. >> embarcadero nobody going anywheth on embarcadero at this time of the day. we're trying to run down another building that did have a fire on

the roof. that is so aprils they're able to get in here and address this problem. >> looks like there, that fire has not spread. >> you can see a extinguisher there on that roof top. this is >> that is twin peaks to you report.

we're getting some on the twitter feed. but the reason there are so many pictures is because the fire was just enormous, seen from around san francisco. and east bay, as well. >> in case you're just joining us, it broke out in san francisco. this is an apartment building under construction. a massive building that spans a block. we've watched a collapse of the building. it appears temperatures are getting a better handle on it, now. >> yes. there is no down in trying to stop the fire. they made the decision it looked

like the building might collapse. and there is building. this is a hiv picture from at and t park. >> we can give you more information about this building the project properties $115 million project supposed to open in august. it's two

and the spokesperson says there were no systems in place, no sprinkler systems if place yet that were operational. they've done a magnificent job. but that is the you know from a fireplace, you can feel the heat. imagine when it's burning at this level. wayne? >> your name is leah? >> yes. >> what did it look like when it started? >> maybe just you know a bus with smoke, with emissions in

the air. just dark smoke. just looked like it's burning red and fiery. >> when did you decide to get out of there? >> i thought it's going to clear. but it hasn't. >> when you say gridlock you say blocked? >> yes. so i had to go around instead of just straight through. >> it's a hot day, too rare, too nice to be underneath the tube. >> yes. >> what

this build something >> it's bare bones construction supposed to be housing. it's next to the ucsf campus. now it's just going to burn almost to the ground they're going to try to contain it. >> you're a good news reporter. >> thank you. >> thank you. thank you. >> wayne, thank you. traffic concerns in the area have been problematic. we're hearing from the chp. that is in the heart of where this fire is. they're asking drivers not to use it. that is in the middle and any traffic going to be stalled for a long, long time.

it started as a small plume of smoke within 15 spread. a couple buildings stuck together in august. in an hour and a half this apartment complex is simply gone. >> as you look at these images here, you can just see this center portion of the building. the flames continue to burn crews able to focus on this. and we can see smoke is more

intense. >> if there is good news is that there have been no injuries we haven't heard yet of firefighters hurt. they wisely pulled back within minutes of getting a sense the building is starting to collapse and it did. now, you can see firefighters using water cannons now down on to the flames. this building is under construction. so most of the workers left for the day. >> we don't have an idea of what caused this fire.

that is not in danger. >> it's no longer out of control. when this building is raging, concern is very real. very understandable. there is no way you can keep it from spreading. >> we want to go now to allen wong with fire chief joanne hays-white. >> they have a mic. she's saying throughout her defensive mode fire is still spreading but they feel like they have an upper hand.

she says heat was so intense they had to start what is called a water curtain to spray out radiant heat cracking windows across the street from this fire. there were people living there at that time. she didn't have a number on evacuees but they're comfortable almost everybody in this area is safe at this time. at least. >> reporting no injuries. >> she's reporting no injuries, allen? >> yes. can we listen in right now? >> let's listen in right now. >> i do not believe we

initially, it is huge. that is my understanding, yes. yes. probably sooner to contain it we're getting a -- we can see the change in smoke here. so would say it's likely to come down. >> we don't believe anyone is in danger right now.

so we feel no one will get injured. >> that is a press conference on the corner we're watching. north side of the fire you get further back >> that is what it looked like. so hooks like there is no danger to anyone in terms of safety at this moment which is good news. >> yes.

>> now someone did make a rescue. >> yes. he lives across the street from the fire. and >> my partner started screaming and is he saw flames leaping out of the building. i started to panic. and we grabbed the dog ask cat. we pulled over. they kept pushing us back and back. and then, there are people, firemen in our apartment spraying houses i'm freaked out, smoke damage and water. >> what are you going to do? >> i don't know.

a friend said we can stay with him. or get a hotel wex grabbed our pass ports, computers and pets and ran the hell out. >> it seems like they have a handle on the fire. so hope i make it home. >> cooper seems relaxed. >> maybe it's a belly rub. i don't know. >> good luck to you. >> back to you. >> you can imagine the, well, okay. that gentleman is concerned there will be smoke and water

damage. there is no one in danger anymore but they may or way not be able to get back home this evening. >> with radiant heat, they set up more windows from cracking had that area. there is a tipping go one way or another. we're close to that point. this city block was engulfed in flames.

>> you can think oh deer this can get ugly quickly. this shows that dark plume of smoke from the area. it's taken from a drive on 280 at the time. >> yes. >> and can tell you. not much flames just smoke coming off the fire. you can see a lot of flames. >> this is later. you can see an hour, hour and a half after still a lot of

visible. >> firefighters being told to stay off the fourth side for fear of collapse. and firefighters pulled away and now they're worried on the fourth street side there will be more coming down. >> it's certainly something they've been anticipating since the beginning of the fire. it started raging as it has. massive fire response which is terrific. in san francisco is been breezier. light winds. >> animal control officers are being asked to report to work to

take care of strays that may be paniced and wandering around. and this is slated to open in august. hoping to start renting out spaces here in this apartment complex. that is just a massive complex. and you can see flames diminished now. is no longer an incredible danger to the neighborhood. the chief of the fire department says it's a good sign when smoke

goes white to black. >> and certainly, far fewer flames yes >> more on the winds and conditions. >> you know up until now weather conditions have not been a factor in spreading the fire or feeding efforts. winds just beginning to increase right now here in san francisco. winds at three miles per hour. how far, winds strong in other parts of the area. south and north

winds to get stronger here because we have a wind advisory. from kl tonight and tomorrow morning, but those firefighters done a remarkable job in containing this fire and reducing it's intensify in advance of what we've expected to be stronger winds in the next couple of hours. so if winds do increase between now and 8:00 here, the way things are looking now with containment, i think we're in good shape. >> that is good news, thank you >> on the phone we want to go to a gentleman by the name of bill tweety. he's a retired vallejo firefighter we're delighted to have you on the air. you've been watching the coverage. >> when i first started watching

the glass. open walls and doors to fire had all of the air it needed to continue to burn. you can see it just spread then it starts to spread back across the building towards white triangle building. you look now, what is your prediction? is

>> we had wind on the exterior. that sustained a lot of fire. it would be removed and torn down. also the building is going to have to be lost. >> you can see the level of the damage there. we're going to try to roll pictures of the fire when it's ranging. if see what the challenges were.

>> one of the main concerns here would be that height of the building and possibility it would collapse on to streets where vehicles were parked. then, also the building across the street from it. i think mission play. that building was inhabited. and the radiant heat from the fire maybe 100 feet from building to building throughout the glass can heat interior products to combustion. that is how they can start. they won't know that until they see the smoke out of that building, too. just the collapse is one of the

main things. they pulled out firefighters in the nick of time. i know you don't have necessarily huge structures but a fire of this size doesn't happen often. how do firefighters train to handle something this large? many haven't encountered anything like this. >> you can take it from a small part to large if they did, starting to build on its self, that they probably

pulled everybody out. it wasn't safe. >> how do you prepare to handle something this size? they don't fight this often. >> you prepare just like you would for any ordinary fire. just multiplied by the size of it. and amount of people that they called in to the fire. they've had several fires it burned 2, 3 apartments next to each other down. you know? we're showing images from an hour ago right now. this is the view before the collapse of the building. you know thick smoke was coming up from the building. you can see firefighters

spraying a lot of water on this. >> they have. and you know, there is some point there is a call you can't save the building just keep it from spreading. they're only a few areas still burning but that scene from the live picture you'll see just how big this building was and what it's been reduced to. >> yes. here you can see the different means of getting water on this fire now. it's almost contained another 90 minutes until it's under control they have crews on scene and have knocked this down

considerably. just blocks from the giants park which is you can see it's a mess now. this is the sky it's backed up right now. 280 moving better, 280 very much impacted by this. that has been listed. >> you can see various time frame of when the fire was

happening. you can see how dark and toxic that smoke was. >> you can see people gathering from all over to watch what happens. here is video. look how high this is going. good flames. to other buildings close proximity. >> if you have video to share

please do so. we're going to stay and monitor the fire. we'll be he here on our twitter feed and full reports at 9:00 and 11:00. thanks for being here. >> have a good night. we'll keep on top of this for you.

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which is far below his average of $20,000 per show. we're all hoping that you're feeling a lot better today -- well, maybe not everyone is hoping that. i don't know about kirsten and tony. [ laughter ] but let's start finding out. here we go. good luck, players. hello. each correct response beginning with the letter "r." "ask me anything." arthur. okay. i have to do this, then. reddit, $1,000. [ beep ] and that would be spike lee. arthur. what great big teeth, $1,000. the spiny ray above the snout of this fish,