and this is the result. now you have to deal with water damage as well as fire damage to five buildings in that area. good afternoon, thanks for joining us. we continue the live coverage. >> we saw the flames until about 20 minutes ago. we have live team coverage on the fire explosion. and what's happening with people living and working in the neighborhood. let's begin with vic lee. >> well, what you are watching now what you are seeing now is good news. the pg&e was able able to shut that gas leak. and the flames disappeared immediately. the explosion and fire erupted shortly after 1:00 this afternoon. it had burned for about two hour and a halves before the gas was shut off and the flames disappeared. private contractors working on fiberoptics accidently hit a fire line. a gas line.

setting off the explosion and fire. it went from a two alarm to three alarm fire. before it was put out. chief white says at the time eight workers were in the area working on that fiberoptics but were not injured. there were no injuries reported. a building on one side of the fire suffered the most damage. the building which housed a several businesses and residential units including the popular restaurant hong kong lounge. and that restaurant is badly damaged. and perhaps destroyed. chief white briefed reporters a while ago. as did a pg&e spokesman. here's a little of what they said. >> total of five buildings. the fire building itself. at the corner and four others. mixed commercial and residential. we expect some displacement. >> initial reports indicate this

was a third party dig in. related to a construction project. and not anyway associated with pg&e. as i mention we're working and safely as quickly as possible to resolve the situation. >> so pg&e was able to shut off the gas leak. about a half hur ago. when they did the flames disappeared immediately after the gas was shut off. we have good news to report now the bad news of course is that there are evacuees. who have been driven out of the unit. businesses that were damaged. the hong kong lounge was badly damaged perhaps destroyed. we will have more to report on that later on. as we get more detail. now that the fire is out. we are told that some businesses have offered to take some of the evacuees in. we're told mel's diner which is

just down the road here is one of the businesses. that is welcoming evacuees to have have a cup of coffee and meal. and sit in the restaurant until they can decide where to go. essentially. that's the latest here at the fire scene. back to you. >> possibly st. mary's cathedral. that was a possible location. from where you are, were you feeling the heat? what was that like? >> well, we were actually one block away. down on gear. when we got here. and that fire was shooting flames 30, 40 feet into the air. what we could feel was it was like it was raining. it was like a storm of water over the entire area. because the firefighters were spraying the adjacent buildings and trying to keep the area as cool as possible. so it was raining water on us. and you could feel some of the

heat as you approach closer to the flames. again we were about a block away. when we came here. it was a combination of heat when you got closer. more like rain. from the water that firefighters were pouring onto the building. >> one last question. do we have any idea of what the numbers would be for the residents affected in the area? there's 3,000 people without power. that was cut off. how many residents are in the vicinity that would be affected. >> we did ask chief that question. she said she didn't know. it was too early. she did say that firefighters went from building to building. those five buildings that were impacted. to look for people. to see if there were any anybody in the buildings. that needed to be rescued. but everybody was accounted for. she said. she said among the evacuees

perhaps. 50 perhaps 100. she didn't really know. at that time. >> she said she hoped fewer than 100. we hope that number stays low. thank you so much. he was talking about the flames and how high they were shooting. this is what pictures and video from just a few hours ago. of the fire. you can see how intense. it's just they're exploding out of the ground. >> this is raging out of control. for a couple hours before they could squeeze off the gas line. we were wondering -- it's not just like a valve like a kitchen. where you turn it and it's more comp collated. that's why it took a while to get that fire put out. they couldn't get to the source and stop the gas from feeding in. we talked to witnesses near the explosion. >> i'm at cook. we're just to the east of where

the fire and explosion was. this is what it looks like now. a much better scene. than earlier today. that flame that huge flame that we have been looking at for the better part of two and a half hours went out in a second. as soon as they turned this gas off. let's show you from sky -- >> shooting from the ground really. from the hole in the ground. was shooting three, four stories in to the air. and igniting the building next door. we did talk with one young man a witness who was in the area and had walked by the area just seconds before he told us he heard a muffled boom. >> i heard like a small explosion. like something behind me. and i looked up and saw people just started screaming and yelling. i turned around and i saw flames

growing towards me. i thought it was a bomb for a second. it was erupting. i took off running down the street. when i got to the end of the block i turned around and saw it was a big fire. and just erupted. >> now that young man told us he was quite concerned. he had see a grandmother with a small child walking by. just seconds before the explosion. and fire. but as we heard from the fire chief as far as they know everyone escaped unhurt. we did talk with several of the folks who were evacuated from the building. specifically the residents. the residences. the apartments above the chinese restaurant. one young woman is a student at usf. she is a foreign student. she's here from iran and was in tears. she said because all she was

able to do when she heard the explosion was grab a laptop. which has work from school on it. but there are documents including her visa in the apartment. she has no idea as to whether that would be safe. or she would have an apartment to go back to. we will hear from her in a bit later in the newscast. i was also able and to talk with a pg&e spokesperson who gave us an idea of at least what the protocol is. and he said they were able to confirm pg&e was able to confirm that they did have someone come out and mark this area. mark streets. so this third party could come in this construction company and do the work. and know where the gas lines were. as to what happened today that set off the fire and explosion, of course that will be part of a larger investigation.

>> you were talking to the people in the area who were barely able to get out. she grabbed a laptop. does it sound like they're getting the information they need to reunite? are they getting information to get help? >> at the point i spoke to her they weren't really sure. they were trying to stay back. from the fire itself. they seem like they had some decent information about where they should be in the short term. and then in terms of now or what sorts of information they are getting now i'm not sure. >> all right. hopefully they have a phone or something and get to social media and know where to go. mel oos they can go and get snacks and water. and red cross will pitch in to help. >> i wonder -- we see something like this. how many of us are prepared. if something happened and you had to grab whatever belongings.

how many people are really prepared for a disaster in their home and apartment. >> you hope they are. we talk about the earthquakes all the time. we have the emergency kit. that's the first thing i should grab. in the moment and there's just flames, you just run. likely. you just get out. >> i hope this serves as another example. think about this stuff. even though we tend to just go on with our daily lives no injuries. that's the most important. there's workers there, pg&e and fire crews. just courageous. they were right across the street from the flames that were just out of control. and doing all they could to turn off the gas line. >> think of the workers escaped. no injuries at this point. it's incredible. that explosion it happened right in front of the hong kong lounge 2. a restaurant. that's on the edge the edge of

the city's jordan park neighborhood. close to the inner richmond. >> live in that neighborhood right now. >> as you mention it's fortunate there were no physical injuries. injuries to the psych. we don't know. there were scared and nervous people around here. if you went to any intersection you could see the flames shooting into the air. there are a lot of observers. some still here. some were evacuated from the block area around the fire. and as vic showed you the status right now, there's no fire shooting up in the air. the smoke has blown away. when we got here about two hours ago, there was a column of flames shooting up. it was rather scary. let's show you what we saw earlier from parker. you can hear it. and you can see it. you couldn't feel the heat. but it looked impressive. one block area was evacuated.

the evacuations went to a lot of different places. mel's diner is one place. further back that's where the traffic was stopped off. we talked to people who had to leave and grab a few things and some got the word while they were at work. >> it's terrifying to see it in action. and see the fire. looking the neighborhood. the reality is it seems like the first responders are keeping the area safe. >> i called my dad. i don't know what's going on. and some man came to my door and told me i had to get out. i grabbed my dog and shoes and ran out. >> that's young emmy you heard from. some of the people you saw standing around waiting for the okay to go back in. which has not been set yet. the latest word we have is they're not okay to go back into the one block area. come back live, we'll show you

that's emmy and her dad. she's wearing a blanket. that's what her dad had in the car. she just grabbed what she could and got out. they're standing there now. we will bring you more information from the folks here. when they get to go back in and what the terror was like. when we see you again. right now at parker. >> is there any indication on how long it will be before people are allowed to get back into their residence? parker that is where the fire broke out. i assume they have a circle here. and keep kind of condense the perimeter. as there's no threat at this point that's imminent. >> yeah. no threat that we know of. that's imminent. as you know when it comes to public safety those officials are not letting anybody in until they can guarantee folks safety

fire department. and pg&e. out there right now. it took a while a couple hours to shut off the pipes. and quit feeding that fire. so, we will tell you as soon as we know when folks are let back in. the only way to get into the air is a fire or police or pg&e uniform. >> thanks so much. here's what we know. the fire chief says a company laying down fiberoptic lines hit the gas line. we have learned a permit was issued to metro verizon. mass tech was involved. they hung up. we are working to find out more about the company. >> use the news app to send out a push alert. you can down load the app to be the first to know when news brokes and customize the alerts. to your specific neighborhood. so you know the news where you live. >> it comes in handy.

we are continuing to monitor what's happening with the gas explosion. the latest on pg&e and what it took to get the gas shut off. >> stay with us. we'll continue the coverage. we'll be right back. it's a deal so good, it will make everyone a fish lover. you get 100%, wild-caught alaska pollock breaded with panko bread crumbs and topped with tartar sauce. plus, hot and salty fries and a drink. for just $4.99! the $4.99 fish sandwich combo. at at&t, we believe in access. the opportunity for everyone to explore a digital world. connecting with the things that matter most. and because nothing keeps us more connected than the internet, we've created access from at&t. california households with at least one resident who receives snap or ssi benefits

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by a work crew. installing lines. flames shooting 30 to 40 feet in the air. you can see on the right of the screen is the hole that the flames were shooting out of. for a long time it just seemed to burn and burn and burn. it took about two hours and two minutes to get that line capped. get the gas sealed off. and we have damage to five buildings but no injuries. that we know of at this point. and now it's a mop up operation. and a fact finding mission to see exactly what caused the puncture. apparently the gas lines were mapped out by pg&e. and there was a private contractor. you can see the standing water there. there will be extensive water damage. >> look at the roof. >> that was the only the fire department could do was protect the roofs of nearby buildings. the pan over here, that roof is obviously competely destroyed.

and will have to be rebuilt. a lot of insurance claims result of this. we'll see who has the ultimate liability. but at least nobody was hurt. that's the important thing. and we'll -- a will the of the standing water to the side. they were pouring water on this for two and a half hours. >> outage map. you can see the pg&e map here. over 2,500 customers are currently without power. that number was up around 3,000 at one point. and we'll see how long it takes before power is restored. >> the i team has been covering this all afternoon. and dan is has been covering pg&e. and what he has learned. today we know that the company the crew did contact pg&e to find out where the mains were? and the gas lines were? >> exactly right. we're piecing everything together. we know that the permit was issued to mci metro verizon.

for the dig. that mass tech was the construction crew. we believe they with based out of coral gables florida. it looks like they have an office in walnut creek. we found a couple incidents with cal osha. through inspections. complaints from may, april 2016. and 2015 accident. inspection related to hazards from a high voltage over head power line. we'll look into mass tech and the coming hours and days. i want to focus on why did it take pg&e about two hours and 19 minutes to put this out? this all happened about 1:18 today. that's when the breech happened. that construction crew working for mass tech under contract. they hit that gas main the 12 inch gas main. and you might think there's got to be some valve somewhere to shut it off quickly. and this was kind of the same

issue with that we found. back in 2010. one, they couldn't find the valve. it went on for hours and hours over night. as the neighborhood just exploded into flames. finally the crews found it. but then it was stuck. they couldn't turn it off. in this case, pg&e is not telling us this. but a water department worker who was on the scene told us today that there was a valve but it was right near where the flames were coming out of the pavement. the other issue is after the 2010 explosion, the they tried to get pg&e to install remote valves. to shut off from a command center. it looks this didn't happen in san francisco. we don't know whether there was a time frame. or they were proper over sight to make sure they did this. pg&e didn't have access to the valve as you can see the flames in the sky.

40 feet. they had to go to the basic technique of digging a hole in the ground. you saw the crews today frantically working with just shovels. trying to dig through the asphalt and into the dirt to isolate that gas main. and pinch it off. so, that finally happened by my count two hours and 19 minutes later. the good news as you said, there was no loss of life. there was a fifth building that was involved in this. so the question is could and should pg&e have done this more quickly. to avoid the gas main explosions. and are those remote switches being installed. all those questions. >> i found the last news conference, listening to pg&e talk about what happened. they said who a construction crew did it. and they were so quick to say

not pg&e. buzz they are just going through the ringer. >> it's interesting the pg&e spokesman. they kept asking the reporters were asking what are you doing? what steps are you taking. how much longer. we're working as quickly as we can. they're quick to point the blame and perhaps correctly at this contracting crew. they weren't that forthcoming with answers. but we should see that the crew apparently had called the 811 number for pg&e. that's the process which they have to mark the gas line. and make sure no one hits it. that process happened. we should bring up the fact back in december of 2018, the puc puc pg&e for falsifying record about that process. there were tens of thousands of calls to 811 not handle quickly enough. and found that pg&e had

falsified records. trying to paint a rosier picture about the response. so it looks like the 811 call was not an issue here. those are the issues pg&e is facing. >> safe to say even though this may not have been their fault, this is the last thing pg&e needed at this point. high profile event. no injuries. but talking about the wild fire, and bankruptcy filing. another emergency situation is really the last thing this company needs to be involved in. whether it's their fault o not. >> they were facing a deadline today for the wild fire mitigation plan. >> that's what you were planning on covering. >> they are facing a attention. i was going to say heat. they were facing attention on many differentro criminal probation and bankruptcy. and this today. it just raises more questions

pg&e didn't want to face. >> yeah. thank you very much. >> amazing job. >> two hours live here. we use the news app to send out push alerts while the fire was burning. down load the app to be the first to know when news breaks. >> know the news where you live. as soon as it happens. >> all right. onto weather. fortunately we didn't have any major wind gusts coming through. with the flames so high in the air. >> very fortunate. the wind was calm. under 10 miles per hour. most of the afternoon. we got a gust up to 13 miles per hour briefly. and the wind very calm. even after the fire is out, there's concern about something we igniting. the wind shouldn't be a factor. here's a look at live doppler 7. lots of bright sky. clouds are around as well. giving us dramatic views of the sky. how about this one. you can see some of the suns rays bleeding through the clouds

there. beautiful view. looking toward the golden gate. 53 degrees san francisco right now. 54 oakland. and here's the view. there was a view. just a minute ago. i'll give you a look at the current temperature readings. 51 in livermore. and here's a rather nice view. of clouds and sun. over san jose. and tease are the forecast features. another cold night. we'll feel it. it will be dry and cool tomorrow afternoon. rain returns on friday. over night conditions a few clouds will linger. patches of clear sky over night. temperatures will drop into the upper 20s. up in the north bay. 29 the expected low at livermore. down south a low of 29. this is going to be cold all across the region tonight.

tomorrow, under partly cloudy skies highs will be in a similar range to today. low to mid-50s. on to the next storm. friday. it ranks 1 on the scale. expected to produce light rain and brief downpours wintd gusts under 25 miles per hour. here's a forecast animation. 1:00 a.m. friday to about 8:00 a.m. right in the middle of the morning commute. wet. widespread rainfall. moderate to heavy downpours likely. probably a slow commute. snow in the higher elevations. and napa county and lake. and then the storm will sort of break up a bit friday night. and snow isn't the sierra. add that. there will be more snow.rafaals about a quarter of an inch to a third. and about half to three quarters of an inch in north bay. here is the 7-day forecast. we have series of stormy days come lg our way.

friday through monday. each day the storm activity will rank one on the storm impact scale. monday we have more cold air coming in that may produce a mechanics of rain and snow. and next tuesday and wednesday just slight chance of rain. under partly cloudy skies. once again, very cold over night. tomorrow morning if you're heading out early, bundle up. >> thank you. our coverage of the gas fire this explosion in san francisco. this explosion in san francisco. is going to continue after the ♪ they say you should always listen to your heart. and where better to do that, than the island of ireland? after all, your heart is the best compass there is. so get out there and fill your heart with the stuff that keeps it beating.

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and a will the of water damage in the vicinity. five buildings affected by this. and one of them the hong kong lounge restaurant. totally destroyed. at least by out ward appearance. thankfully no injuries reported the fire finally put out right around 3:40 this afternoon. the gas line was capped. that was the gas line that was feeding those flames. and now it is all about the clean up effort. >> extensive. >> which will take quite sometime. and residents in the area and business people, folks running businesses were all evacuated and we'll see how long it take bfs they can get back to their properties. >> of course when you see a seen like that, a lot of people captured it on their phones and talk on social media. >> we have been covering the breaking news since the moment it happened this afternoon. here with the really incredible images. >> that is right. before i get to the social i want to mention word from san

francisco fire. that it's going to be total closure on gear for about four more hours. that is the time line. this is the very first piece of ground video we saw. posted on twitter. by citizen app. you can see the flaps shooting up described 35 feet high. from a distance. it is frightening. how about this one. tweeted by san francisco police department. sergeant mike. i will go ahead and play that. you can see from his vantage point this is northbound on parker. about a block away. you can see again how huge the flame was. being fed by the natural gas. this is also worth your time. that's when they were jackhammering doing the trenching to try to get to the shut off. to squeeze it off there. taken about 2:45 this afternoon.

about an hour and 20 minutes after it started. of course on the scene the whole time. look at her view. this is of course when they were pushed further back to ensure safety. and how about this one. finally at the very end. san francisco fire department also tweeted this one. saying we have the gus shut off. crews are working to five buildings. about four more hours to go. with has the busy 38 line. service interrupted at this time. >> thank you so much. i was just checking social media as well. the news conference 4:45. the san francisco mayor will be there. this is a video. from sky 7. because of a fire is out now.

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line. this is at gear and parker. the images were incredible. >> in case you're not familiar with the area. it's a block north of usf campus. jordan park. people impacted by this. obviously the we mentioned earlier there's a bus line there. and lee ann directing traffic fr a while there with cars and buses going through the area. it's going to take a clean up with the area. and reported that this whole area is going to be closed down until 7:30 tonight. about four more hours. and residents will not be allowed back at least into the immediate vicinity. because there's so much damage. and they want to be ultra cautious here. dealing with gas and fire. even though there's a high confidence everything is sealed off. >> it will be shut down for hours. and the news conference we're

told is now less than ten minutes away. 4:45. and i believe that is where our vic lee is. >> you got it. we're a block away. that is gear street there. we're on parker. look for yourself. the flames they're no longer there. pg&e was able to shut off the gas. just a little over an hour ago. and the incredible flames shooting 30, 40 feet into the air. suddenly disappeared. the explosion and fire erupted about 1:15 this afternoon. there it is. it was burning for about two and a half hours before the gas was shut off. san francisco fire says private contractors working on fiberoptics on the street accidently hit a gas line. shutting off the explosion and fire. it went from a two alarm to a three alarm. before it was put out.

at the time, eight workers were on the street working on those fiberoptics. they were not injured. a building on one side that's looks like it's totally destroyed. one side of the fire suffered the most damage. a building which housed several businesses. and residential units at the top. including the popular hong kong restaurant. the restaurant we are told is badly damaged. perhaps destroyed. five buildings in all we're told were impacted. most of them water damage a little fire damage on the exterior. chief hays white held a briefing for us a little while ago. >> no injuries associated. we have kor donned off a perimeter on each side of the incident. all the buildings were gone through and searched. combination of police and fire

to make sure residents were alerted and out. we have renunification sites. one at mel's diner. st. marys will open up doors if needed and it will be needed tonight. for the displaced residents. >> now the question people are asking is why it took pg&e so long to find and cap that gas line. after all this is earthquake country. the gas was turned off about two and a half hours after the explosion. part of the answer maybe that pg&e had crews had to trench to get to the pipeline. to cut that gas off. they may have had to dig a long way. that was not their answer when we they were asked the question. they declined to answer. so if you take a good look a lot of activity here.

on gearing and parker. crews city crews trying to fix that intersection. firefighters mopping up. back to you. that news briefing will be conducted i think in about five minutes. we'll bring that live. >> all right. thank you. we hear the police chief as well as the mayor are at mel's diner now. one of the reunification places. people who need information and food shelter can go. it's a block away. scheduled to happen around 4:45. that's fluid. we'll bring it live as soon as it happens. >> i was struck by the video that we saw. at how close the firefighters were to the gas leak and how heroic they were. you don't know what's going to happen when gas is involved. so courageous. they put their lives on the line every day. let's get to lee ann.

continuing live team coverage. at gearing and stanen. what's happening. >> my colleague vic lee is on that side of the gear. i'm on the west side. i can tell you that this explosion is going to have huge impact on because of the bus line. in san francisco. just listen to this. 55,000 people ride the 38 every day. of course that's back and forth. so right now what's going on is that the bus is the number 38 is coming down, but making a right. so basically it is skipping four stops. you have alternates. the number 5. which is full ton. or the 31.

or to my right you can take the california line. which is number one. very interesting people were taking other bus lines. and were stopping purposely stopping here to see witness that explosion. >> we're on the bus and i saw the huge fire. i was like oh shoot. we should check it out. >> you couldn't take the 38 today. >> we had to take the one. >> so again bilzs around here -- businesses around here are affected. mel's diner they are having the pow pow. pier one and ponchos. i spoke to a restaurant owner what time do you think you can reopen? he said no idea. but now that you have given me the information i'll tell them. 7:30. is that right? they'll be reopening?

>> we couldn't hear you for a second. the news conference is starting. let's go live. >> i'm london breed. mayor of san francisco. today at approximately 1:18 p.m. there was an explosion and a fire that occurred at gary and parker. this particular neighborhood. unfortunately this happened. but the good news is no one was injured or hurt. thanks fot quick response that happened with the san francisco fire department. and the san francisco police department. i'm grateful for their service. and at this time we don't have information as to the number of individuals that are going to be impacted. we do have a number of departments who are here. to work with not only the merchants and the residents

impacted by this particular incident. at this time i want to make it clear that the chief is here of the fire department. the police chief is here as well. representative from pg&e. as well as the department of emergency management. and the red cross. together we are working to address this particular issue. and we want to appreciate the neighborhood for their cooperation. appreciate the residents of san francisco for avoiding the area. while we address the issue. with that i want to turn it off to the fire chief. to provide some specifics about the incident. >> thank you, mayor. also appreciate coming out here. as well as the district supervisor. both interested in very involved in the stages of this incident. and have responded. so they'll get a full briefing.

as the mayor stated at 1:18 were called to the scene. very quickly determined and declared a working fire. then escalated to a second alarm and third alarm. 120 members of the department. understanding is that there was a gas line breech. by workers construction workers working on fiberoptics. underneath the asphalt. we had free flowing flame due to the gas leak. for approximately two hours and 15 minutes. pg&e responded to the scene. and eventually were able to mitigate the incident. we were under control at 4:18. particular challenges this is a densely populated area. middle of the day. what we did quickly with the police department and parking and traffic. as well as dem. we put out information to keep people safe.

collective goals is life safety and happy to report no injuries. or missing folks as related to this incident. what our objective was to keep everyone safe, but to contain the fire. it was free flowing for two hours. we put up water curtains and defensive tactics to make sure our firefighters were kept safe. and to protect the other structures. total of five buildings involved. the department of building inspection is on scene. to assess the structural integrity of the buildings involved. this is still an active incident. it was under control. under mayor's breeds leadership. she prioritizes public safety. there's a team of us with the same objective to get this up and running. as soon as possible. pg&e is also on the scene. and we'll be answering some questions. at this time i know we'll hear from the district supervisor.

i'd like to introduce the police chief bill scott. >> thank you, chief. good afternoon. i want -- we are working as a city family to get the area back to normal as soon as possible. there are people impacted by this. a lot people impacted by this incident. we are asking to please avoid the area. if you don't have to be in the area. it will be closed over night. and so the crews can do work. from bo mont to parker. spruce to stan yan. if you live in the area or work in the area. we have officer posted at the perimeter. we'll try to get you to your residence if we can. we're asking everybody avoid the area. and we'll work as hard as we can

to get this area back to normal as soon as possible. >> thank you, chief. first of all i want to start off thanking the mayor for her leadership and effort toward public safety. we had such a great response. i want to thank the chief for being here. and all the first responders. i want to let the residents know and neighbors know my office is on hand to navigate and the challenges that have come from this. feel free to be in touch with my office flt we'll follow this closely. thank you. >> another thing i want to mention is that there is has been designated mel's diner. 3355 is designated as a relocation site. for those who have been at work today and come home to find this. they can get support from the red cross. and there are plans under way. it's undetermined exactly how

many might be displaced. and we are working on plans at this time to provide shelter for them. this evening. i also want to take the opportunity to thank all the men and women of the fire department. isk here since 1:30 this afternoon. the great work they do each and every day. this was a challenging incident. our incident commander is should be somewhere. rex hail. we were classmates 29 years ago. it's difficult to track everything. and keep everyone safe. and i want to say he did a great job. in bringing this fire under control. as for the men and women of san francisco fire department. we have a represent i have a new -- i'm sorry i forget your name from pg&e. >> my

>> can you speak up please. >> first of all i want to make a big shout out to the first responders. we have a wonderful parol ner ship with them. and throughout the state. a big shout out to how they responded and the ongoing partnership. i want to extend my appreciation to the pg&e team. and the crews that responded to the scene. this was not an easy incident. it was a complex situation. they responded safely. quickly as possible. put together a game plan to isolate the system. and all times ensure that the area and first responders were safe. a big shout out ot crew. our focus now is obviously is restoration. we have about 300 customers without gas right now. it's cold. so we're trying to restore services quickly as possible.

also about 2,500 electric customers without service. again it's cold, and it's almost after work. and people would like to come home to service. we are working around the clock to restore that. as quickly as possible. thank you. >> the time line of when you got the notification to the time you were able to shut off the gas? what was happening with pg&e to address in. >> i believe the question is what was happening after we alerted to the situation. so first of all we responded to the scene safely and as quickly as possible. we got on the scene and assessed it. this is a complex situation. beneath us. it's a web of utilities. multiple gas lines ranging from two inches to 12 inches. and you have water and fiberoptics and electric. it's not simple digging in and isolating a valve or pinching off a gas line.

you have to go slow. that's for several reasons. state law requires us if we know that there a is gas line within 24 inches. we have to hand dig. imagine hand digging asphalt. it takes time. we had to put together a plan. and slowly hand dig to get to points to shut off valves and pinch lines to shut off service. it's very cold right now. if we do it wrong and shut off gas to hundreds or thousands of more people in san francisco. we're trying to do this in a way that's safe. of course. also least disruptive to people. so they can go home to electricity and gas. again first and foremost you have to understand it's a complex array down there. and it takes time. >> the construction workers that breeched the gas line. were they pg&e? how can you guarantee it won't

happen again. >> it was a third party incident. not affiliated with pg&e. >> how can you guarantee it won't happen again? >> another gas line explosion won't happen again. >> a third party won't -- there's a system call 811 before you dig. it's a good reminder before anyone digs into a utility. before anyone digs under ground in the city. throughout the state. call 8181. people will mark and locate it. so we can tell you what's under ground and where utilities are. these individuals here had a ticket. they had called out. we are aware of that. i don't have anymore information of why it happened beyond na. >> are you stied with the two hour time? satisfied -- >> do you know anything about the company? >> i don't have information on

the third party. >> how recently were the maps. they called in. to what degree of reliability and confidence do you have in the mapping and the information that they were given. it was accurate. how often do you go over this area? >> we have full confidence. on the response time. there's three factors. thaurng for the question. we got on the scene we need to come up with a plan to isolate the situation and make sure crews are safe. and first responders are safe. top priority. second part is it's a complex web of utilities beneath us. we need to go slow and methodical. state law requires us to only hand dig. if you have tried to dig through a street with a shovel, and i'm sure very few people have. it's a difficult proposition. we need to go slow. you can imagine the conditions. third we want to be methodical about what lines we shut off. we don't want to shut off gas to

thousands of people. when it's cold outside. thank you. >> when the big one hits. will it take two hours to turn off the gas? >> that concludes the joint media venture for today. we will not do further media updates on this incident collectively. contact individually if you have further questions. >> live news conference happening in san francisco. on the explosion that happened around 1:18 p.m. >> a will the o questions for pg&e. the spokesperson goes to great lengths to explain. because of the web of lines under the street. that they were compelled to hand dig. and that's why it took two hours to seal off the gas line. and then put out the fire. >> they didn't want to cut off power to too many people because it's so cold outside. we're continuing to cover this

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i heard a small explosion. like something behind me. and i looked up and saw people in front of me. they started screaming and yelling. >> breaking news firefighters are still at the scene of a fire caused by a gas explosion. flames shot into the air for two hours. itent pe for safety. several blocks are still shut

down. >> this is a live look from sky 7. flames died down about 90 minutes ago. pg&e managed to turn the gas off. >> where this is happening. jordan park neighborhood. the gas explosion happened right in front of the hong kong lounge 2 restaurant. on the edge of the city's inner richmond. good evening. >> thank you for staying with us. firefighters just wrapped up a latest on the news conference minutes ago. saying lt portion near the scene will remain closed over night. >> this is a very active incident. it is under control now. five buildings affected by the explosion and fire directed. 1:15 this afternoon and took two hours and 15 minutes to get the gas finally turned off. the good thing, no one was hurt. >>