crews are still on the scene and will likely be there at geary boulevard and parker for some time. >> and take a look at the damage. in all, five buildings were affected. and some severely. here is what we know, san francisco fire department got word of the fire at >> crews were doing work to install fiber optic lines. the gas line was ruptured. pg&e said it was third party workers. listen to dispatchers. >> we are not going to distinction the main. >> put the water on the building. the building -- >> the gas explosion happened

right in front of the hong kong lounge ii restaurant in the corner of geary and parker. let's begin with vic lee, the first to arrive on scene. >> reporter: as you said, the fire is out, but still plenty of activity down there at geary and parker. let me step aside. give you a closer look. it is dark here now. you can see pg&e crews doing their job, repairing the street where the fire was. the firefighters have more or less left the scene. they were earlier assessing the buildings going into those five buildings looking to see just how damage had happened there. police chief william scott appeared here briefly about an hour ago. he said that he would like people to try to avoid

area, all o this work will take time. he wants people to stay away in the meantime. let me show you what it looked like earlier today. incredible flames shooting 30, 40 feet in the air. now private contractors working on fiber optics on the street, hit a gas caused an explosion a fire. dozens of firefighters responded. dozens of them waiting for pg&e to shut off thegas. they were pouring water to cool the area down and to contain that fire to prevent it from spreading to adjacent buildings. five areas were impacted. water damage. hong kong lounge, i am told was completely destroyed.

other businesses and residential units in that building were also impacted. at 3:35, two and a half hours after the fire started, pg&e finally found the safety valve and turned off the gas and the flames disappeared. now pg&e spokesman blaire jones was here earlier telling us why it took so long. >> this is a complex situation, beneath us is a complex web of utilities. you have water, perhaps fiber optics. it is not as simple. you have to go slow. >> at this time, we don't have information as to the number of individuals that are going to be impacted. but we do have a number of departments who are here to work with not only the merchants but the residents who have been

impacted. >> reporter: mayor london breed was here briefing us on the situation. the mayor says we don't know at this moment how many evacuees there are. but several buildings who are welcoming them in the meantime as they are not at home. one of those businesses is mel's diner which is just down the road here on geary street. they are welcoming some of these evacuees in for a hot meal also st. that is the latest, back to you in the studio. >> great work. thank you. >> the explosion

a busy intersection. kate larsen. >> reporter: there are a row of businesses. take a look at this cell phone video. he heard the explosion and came outside and took this cell phone video of a fireball. he went back inside to get everyone else. it was a third party construction crew who hit that gas line that started this fire and explosion. he saw those workers running around the corner. >> i was up front by the windows. and i saw the explosion and i saw the workers running past me. and i came out and looked and ran back inside and told everyone to get out, we need to go. >> reporter: no reported injuries which is remarkable

when you look at this cell phone video and how big the flames were. thr three to four stories high. another issue we have been talking about is the chinese restaurant. the owners have been out here on the corner. they are clearly concerned by what happened. i have been told by people that there is a rental unit above the chinese restaurant on the second floor. there is still a lot of concern. there were people eating and working inside that chinese restaurant who i am told were able to get out safely. that is the latest live in san francisco in jordan park. i am kate larsen abc7 news. >> pg&e told us more than 2500 customers were without electricity at one point. all but 235 customers have their

power back on. and 300 customers are without gas. >> coverage. >> reporter: a couple of thing haves changed as we first talked to you. one, is the fire was out. from here, you can see the flames shooting 30 to 40 feet in the air. and the people standing out here waiting for some time to go back home. let's show you what we were seeing from anza and parker. you see those flames. we see those flames. it was pretty darn impressive and not in a good way. so authorities evacuated a one block area around that fire and they are still not letting people go back in. folks who have pets down there were escorted by police for

about five minutes and then moved back out. a gentleman driving by when the explosion happened and a young lady home when it happened. this is what they both had to say. >> a big blast of gas flew out where they were working, where the guy was digging. and within five to ten seconds, it caught fire and a big blast of flames kept coming out. >> i called my dad, i don't know what is going on. and some man came to my door and told me i had to get out and i grabbed my dog and grabbed some shoes and ran out of the house. >> reporter: without even a jacket. her father had to bring her a s. mel's diner was a reunification

spot around here. the folks who have got their pets and other valuables they have found other places to stay. geary is going to closed for a while, possibly overnight. folks in that area, they may not have all of the amenities. the fire is not back on close to the fire scene. although it is as you get further away from there. live from euclid and parker. >> this fire happened on one of the busiest streets in san francisco, geary. >> and people are trying to get through the evening commute. lyanne melendez is coverage. >> reporter: it just got worse out here. take a look at these cones. they put them out here because we have gone from two lanes of traffic to one lane of traffic. people are being forced to make that right-hand turn.turn.

you will not be able to go past stannion. that is going to be closed for the time being overnight. now when this incident was happening, this explosion, right after that was going on, the number 38 bus which is a busy line was not going through here. we do have video of that bus, number 38 as it was now, now being allowed to come here to stannion. but going to make that right-hand turn again, and then a left on to anza. if my memory is correct. and then another left on to m s messonic and then get back on to geary. tomorrow that might be important. remember, there are other routes that you can take. the number one california to my right. or the number five fulton bus

line. plan accordingly for tomorrow. all of these restaurants and businesses around here remain closed and they will remain closed also for the time being and i am going to let you know this will be of course a financial hardship for them. one last thing because a lot of people commented and told me this was very useful for them. the san francisco alert, the city alert system was very useful. one kid said, you know, the moment i found out about it, i took another bus and that was very helpful. and i just got an alert ten minutes ago, it says for those displaced by today's fire in the inner richmond district, a shelter will open at st. >> great job.

the abc7 news iteam dan >> we know that mci metro verizon had the permit to dig with a third party company to do the work. they apparently have an office in walnut creek. it was their crew of eight to ten workers that cut io gas main. the natural gas didn't immediately catch fire so, the crew had a chance to run away. and no one was hurt. three recent inspections with them. and one from concord in 2015. mass tech employees were demolishing. someone is going to dig, they have to dig 811

to prevent where the gas lines. they did call and pg&e says the gas lines were marked. a former commissioner told me she has questions about what happened. >> so one question i have is was 811 called, was it marked. was there an inaccuracy in the marking and what happened to the system and this is also why the investigation that was launched in 2018, was so very important for this program. >> reporter: pg&e had brokenroke state law to not to not to not t enough. of course, it is the bigger question, why did it take more than two hours to turn off the

ga gas in they couldn't find the valve right away. so they had to resort to finding it by hand. >> more to come. but this incident comes breaking news pg&e released its mitigation report for the fires. >> now this is the plan that is required under state law. how pg&e is going to prevent more devastating wildfires. i can tell you at this point pg&e says it will more than double the trees removed. and increase vegetation management. increase the use of insulated wire. the iteam caught up with vice mayor of berkeley. she is now calling on the state

to make pg&e put those lines under ground in the berkeley hills calling it an issue of public safety. >> it is an extremely important element of wildfire safety for me because if a pole goes down, people cannot get out. they cannot cross a hot wire. and emergency responders will not cross a hot wire ether. >> berkeley has weighed in pushing pg&e to take action. lines do not just pose hazards in the city we doing in the future. >> absolutely. thank you for looking into all of this. >> here is a quick recap of what we know. geary boulevard at parker avenue

will be closed through the night. under groundworkers were doing doing work. and that rupture caused a towering fire for more than two hours. five buildings were damaged including the hong kong ii restaurant. tens of thousands of gallons of water, the fire department of poured on the blaze. the fire is out. no injuries have been reported. >> and we did use the abc7 news app to push out the alert. you can also customize alerts to your neighborhood. so you know the news where you live. >> much more ahead. a south bay city lays out ambitious plans to lay relief. >> returning a vacant lot to a

bustling neighborhood with thousands of homes. >> i am spencer christian, and get so chances are you've seen at us around the house...ep. or around the yard... on the shelf... or even out in the field. your mom knew she could always count on us, and your grandma did too. because for over 150 years we've been right by your side. advancing the health of the people, plants and pets you love. so from all of us at bayer, thank you for trusting in us. then and now.

abc7 news is committed to building a better bay area, and affordable housing is clearly something that is alluding some of the cities and counties. this week it came up with some major funding. >> david louie introduces us to

one woman who says affordable housing has made a huge difference for her family. >> reporter: he is mer ralda ramos couldn't be happier. they call this three bedroom apartment home. the ramos family was one of 1600 of 88 applicants for one of the units. >> it is so beautiful now. life is more comfortable and more great. >> reporter: the dream come true for ms. ramos is the one san jose has. they will be given $100 million in seed money to build affordable units. this site will have two

buildings as seen in this rendering. proposed by san jose's core companies is one of the 11 developments to get city funding. >> you can now focus on other aspects of your life, your health, your job. so a lot of good things come from stable affordable housing. >> reporter: it is only a start to addressing the housing shortage. >> there is always more applicants than we have units available for. so we are going to continue to keep building as much as we can. >> reporter: in san jose david louie abc7 news. remember, we want to hear your ideas about building a better bay area. what issues do you see where you live. use the #betterbayarea. >> we are expecting more cold weather tonight.

spencer has the forecast next. >> stay with us. a general hospital did not air at its usual time and it will run 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 may qualify for home internet at a discounted rate of $10 a month.

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all right. it is another chilly night around the bay area. >> yes, spencer christian is here with just how cold it is

going to be. >> we have had a couple of them. a few clouds around right now, but the sky is basically bright and temperatures are dropping into the low 40s even parts of the north bay. let's move along. we will see inland lows tonight in the upper 20s to low 30s. it is going to be quite cold. lows will drop into the storm that ranks one on the storm impact scale. going into the morning commute it will be quite wet. cold air producing snow. the big impact will be the red roadways for the morning commute. and here is a look at the seven-day forecast. we will expect a series of six consecutive days of some precipitation. not just rain. on sunday, we expect a mix of

snow and rain much like earlier this week. so prepare for getting wet and for being cold. >> active rainy season. >> very active and we are approaching that average rainfall level which is a good thing. >> thanks, spencer. >> we have good news from the north bay to share. >> salmon, >> a south bay shock over what the mayor of cupertino

and here is the latest on our top story, a gas fed fire that burned for hours in san francisco. several blocks of busy geary shut down and will be closed for the entire night. >> a third party construction crew punctured a gas line. it burned for more than two hours. >> unfortunately, you know, this happened, but the good news was

no one was injured or hurt thanks to the quick response that happened with the san francisco fire department and the san francisco police department. i i i i am grateful for their service. >> five buildings were damaged including one kong lounge ii. >> a man that was inside the hong kong lounge ii restaurants today. >> he describes moment by moment what he saw. >> we heard a rushing noise like a tornado, it must have been the gas line leak. and that lasted for about 15 seconds and we were all just looking at each other and didn't know what to do, or didn't know how to react. and immediately, there were flames against the windows.

and we all ran to the back of the restaurant and management was able to basically get us all out the back through the kitchen. so we escaped out the kitchen after a minute. and went out to the onto the street. >> incredible. >> intense. >> yeah and the building that burned contained both businesses as well as apartments and fortunately everyone got out safely. >> which was >> reporter: we are at spruce and geary boulevard. this stretch of geary will be shut down at least through tomorrow morning while they do the clean up. let's show you what it looked like earlier this afternoon at the height of this fire. again, this went on for about two and a half hours with these flames shooting 30, 40 feet in

the air. it was clear they were confined for the most part, the worst of the flames confined to this hole in the street. moments after we arrived with the flames still at their height, we were able to talk with witnesses and a young woman who got out of her apartment safely. >> i heard a small explosion and i looked up and saw people in front of me and they started screaming and yelling and i turned around at that point, and i saw flames gro gro gro g and i took off running down the street. >> i got out during the street. and i am so worried. i am an international student and i have my passport and everything in that building. they didn't let me take out my

documents. >> reporter: and this happened so quickly, in terms of the evacuation, a lot of these folks self-evacuated. we heard from the guy in the chinese restaurants, when they saw the orange glow, they jumped up and ran out the back. the people in the apartment, they knew they needed to get out of there. the buses, some of the vehicles that were on the street just stopped and people started pouring out of the buss to get out of the area as quickly as possible. let's show you what is happening live out here right now. this is as far as you can go westbound on geary. at this point they have a detour set up at spruce. you have to go right or have to go left. this section of geary will be closed through the overnight hours. live in san francisco, laura

anthony abc7 news. >> thanks. we have complete coverage on our website, that is abc7news.com. hear from people whose lives were affected by this. that is on abc7news.com as well as the abc7 news news app. >> the mayor of cuppertino cracked a joke, but not everybody thinks it was funny. >> reporter: an apparent joke is drawing mixed reaction. >> you heard about the wall along our southern border, this is a wall wall wall wall wall wl this proposal. >> supporters say the comments surrounding housing were meant to lighten the mood. >> living here is so expensive. and it is unrealistic for us to be living here long-term.

>> reporter: cities like cupertino have come under housing advocate is the co-chair of casa, a regional public private partnership. >> we need every jurisdiction to step forward and do their part to build housing for everybody. >> reporter: san jose city council member is known for injecting his humor into council meetings but wasn't amused by the comments. >> we are connected. our residents live in one city and work in another. >> reporter: with our politically charged comment, some say it is important to think twice before speaking. >> when people joke about it, they feel like the system between is working against them

and not for them. >> reporter: in the south bay, chris nguyen. here is abc7 news reporter wayne freedman on how the offspring are paying off now. >> reporter: the sentiment goes down and when salmon run against the water, they bring nutrients back up. it makes it a special place and even more so this year for visitors like catherine reagan from san francisco. 350 pairs of coho dug nests atss made it this year. the best return in more than a decade. >> we got down to 50 or 60 individual fish back in 2008. so the population has been

rebounding ever since. >> reporter: that is no guarantee this year's fish will survive. >> you might compare the creek here to a fast moving freeway. and this section like an off ramp to a rest stop where the fish can take refuge. before the rain, hot days and dust and lots of it. a project duplicating a lost flood plane. >> there could be dozens, there cowl be hundreds. >> reporter: how do you find them? >> they are buried deep down in the wood and come out at night. >> reporter: the odds of single hatchling returning no better than one or 2%. and that is a good number. >> something is going right. >> reporter: so there is your good news about a stream running

both ways. in marin county, wayne abc7 news. we are expecting another cold night. >> see the at bayer our roots run deep. so chances are you've seen us around the house... or around the yard... on the shelf... or even out in the field. your mom knew she could always count on us, and your grandma did too. because for over 150 years we've been right by your side. advancing the health of the people, plants and pets you love. so from all of us at bayer, thank you for trusting in us. then and now. ♪ with the chase mobile app, jason wu could pay practically anyone, at any bank, all while putting on a runway show for new york fashion week. ♪ he could.

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well, have you ever bought so many things while traveling, you tried to ship some of them home rather than carrying them in their suitcase. >> a marin county couple did just that. >> this couple had a dream wedding in france and shipped their wedding close back home. it seemed like a perfect plan until they realized they may never see their wedding clothes again. >> it was a fairy tale wedding. their wedding on the coast. >> it was very quaint and charming. >> 25 of our best friends and family. >> reporter: they said their vows on a beach. michelle in a gown from

budapest. keith in white linen from macy's. and before heading off on their honeymoon, they shipped those precious wedding outfits back home. >> we thought it would be simple to send it ups home, what could go wrong? >> reporter: they got home but the package never did. ups was trying to track it. >> the label fell off and the package was lost and sent to germany. >> and that's when we got worried and said oh my gosh, it is in germany, and we will never retrieve it. >> we went through three different tracking numbers and several supervisors. >> reporter: five months later, they figured they were gone forever. >> we enlist "7 on your side." >> we contacted ups. the couple had already left on

their honeymoon. back home, keith did fax an invoice but didn't reach the right person until we got involved. >> i got the scissors right away and cut it open. >> reporter: the box arrived and their wedding attire. >> it was thrilling. >> reporter: as elegant as ever. >> thank you "7 on your side." >> now if you ever ship something from overseas back to the united states, make sure you fill out all of the right paperwork. it has to go through customs. i posted a link to make sure you do everything rights. this is to help you out just in case you ever get marrian. >> j cold night ton

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the weather system that brought snow in the bay area. >> jean haggenson has an update. >> getting into the park was a

bit slow. chains are required. but the scenery making it a worth while drive. for a couple of days the peaks were off limit. but the wait was worth it. >> it was just gorgeous. >> reporter: the andrews family had to wait to get into the park but now having a good time. >> it has been great. our kids will remember this forever i think. >> reporter: and what will they remember? >> we get to go sledding. you get to go bumping down the hills. >> reporter: roads into the park and inside the park were closed for a day and a half because 18 inches of snow fell on the park in a short period of time causing problems. >> we had trees come across the road some trees fall on vehicles, created damage. we had power out, the internet out, things like that. but for the most part, everybody

is fine. working on clearing the roads. >> reporter: many visitors forced to stay an extra day. one of them was miranda. >> if i had to be stranded somewhere this, is the maplace,t is beautiful. >> reporter: when it melts, it should make for fantastic water falls in the spring. snow fell in parts of the bay area in the last few days.s. >> go to our website to see pictures and videos. >> one last time to update the forecast. >> spencer christian is here with that. >> we have clouds hanging around. and temperatures are going to drop if our inland valleys. we are talking freezing and

below freezing weather. and tomorrow's highs under partly cloudy skies will be in the low to mid-50s and then comes our next storm on friday. ranking one. a light to moderate rainfall expected. and here is the accuracy you weather seven-day forecast. on sunday, a mix of rain and snow as cold air comes back and each of those days by the way, the systems coming our way are ranked one on the storm impact scale. six days of precip that's a lot. >> larry is here with sports. >> the giants are very interested. how much does oh! oh! oh! ♪ ozempic®! ♪ (announcer) people with type 2 diabetes are excited about the potential of once-weekly ozempic®. in a study with ozempic®, a majority of adults lowered their blood sugar

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good evening, we honestly never heard of the term load management until lebron sat out with us. and now it is a trend. by the way, the nba trade deadline is tomorrow. kevin durant noter at least until this summer. but he hasn't spoken to the local media in nine days whether it is because of the rumors of him joining the nicks.

>> i think we are handling it great. you can only control what you can control. and you can't listen to media coverage or speculation just not, yeah, there will always be speculation in anything you do. so that's what we signed up for. >> the giants open spring stran training in eight days. that may be about to change, the giants one of the so-called mystery teams interested in signing bryce harper. one of the many free agents without a team. can you say collusion? harper was supposedly looking for a ten-year deal in the neighborhood of $300 million. that's my kind of neighborhood. harper hit 34 homers.

giants have the cash. the question is whether they want to spend it and whether harper wants to sign with a team that is rebuilding. >> watching the raiders to bumble their way into trying to find a place to play. i mean, you know jerry jones helped but this is embarrassing. the raiders have no contact with the niners and nor have they reached out to oakland officials. the warriors who are moving into mission bay and do not wantny r. today is national collegiate signing day. signing letters of mark ho. anderson is going to be a san

jose spar stan. >> everybody who helped us grow to be young adults. i would like to thank god for everything he has given us today. >> it is a great day for me, and no the just me but my family. >> this haprocess was hard and exciting. my family has been here since day one. >> one of the top recruits in the bay area. you see him running wild. he is a four star recruit and made a visit to alabama and decided to sign with rival tennessee. and there he will play line backer. at pebble beach today, team clint eastwood. go ahead, make my day against team murray. ander garcia is on team

eastwood. and this putt is for the win. the celebs playing alongside the likes of jordan spieth and johnson. >> breezy. >> but not pouring rain. >> join us tonight on kofy-tv 20 and we will have the very latest on the gas explosion in san francisco. now we are catching up with residents who have been driven out of their homes and businesses. >> on abc7 news at 11:00, tonight, we get our first look at their plan and what it means for teachers ready to strike. >> here is tonight's prime time line-up. starting

schooled, modern family. >> >> look for breaking news on the abc7 news app. we appreciate your time. >> for all of us here, thank you for joining us this night, this evening.

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you can still wind up winning the game, as was the case with will yesterday. today he faces the two b's-- bif and bryan. welcome aboard, gentlemen. good luck. here we go, into the jeopardy! round. ♪ and now the categories for you, starting off with... oh, we love it. you'll deal with... we'll give you some... you identify the film. and then... [ southern accent ] is... [ laughter ] [ normal voice ] will? uh, movie quotes, $200. - bryan. - what is "groundhog day"? - that's the movie. - movie quotes, $400. - will. - what is "the big lebowski"? - yes. - movie quotes, $600.